Seven o'clock
If the car should become unmanageable , they would make the best landing they could and , half burying the monoplane in the snow , would await in the protected cockpit the breaking of the blizzard and a new day . `` Anyway , '' announced Roy at one time , `` while I ai n't exactly stuck on being here and it ai n't as cheerful as I thought it would be , you got to say this , the _ Gitchie Manitou _ ai n't falling down any . '' No attention was given to supper and it did not get so cold but that the heavy clothing and enclosed cockpit -- for they had long since been forced to put up all the sections -- were ample protection for the young men . Seven o'clock , by which time they had expected to be in camp , came , as did eight and nine . It was now long after dark and , while the storm had abated somewhat , there was still a heavy wind and plenty of snow . For hours the boys had been simply following the compass . They had not caught the roar of the Grand Rapids and felt themselves practically lost .