twelve o'clock
struggled with the gee-pole and managed to overturn the sled into the soft snow . The dogs gave up , the sled was righted , and five minutes later they were flying along the hard-packed trail again . The lynx was the only sign of life they had seen in two days , and it , leaping velvet-footed and vanishing , had been more like an apparition . At twelve o'clock , when the sun peeped over the earth-bulge , they stopped and built a small fire on the ice . Daylight , with the ax , chopped chunks off the frozen sausage of beans . These , thawed and warmed in the frying-pan , constituted their meal . They had no coffee .