midnight
Food had to be eaten uncooked . The long hours dragged by with the little group huddled under icy blankets . When darkness fell , the sleet changed to drizzling rain . This blew over at midnight , and a colder wind , penetrating to the very marrow of the sleepless men , made their condition worse . In the after part of the night , the wolves howled mournfully . With a gray , misty light appearing in the east , Jones threw off his stiff , ice-incased blanket , and crawled out . A gaunt gray wolf , the color of the day and the sand and the lake , sneaked away , looking back .