about noon
Even then he flopped around so lively that Fred had to quiet him by a blow from the stock of his gun . Earl 's success had fired the others , and soon they were fishing in the pale-blue twilight of the night . They kept it up until after twelve o'clock , when they turned in with a catch of three salmon , several whitefish , and a burbot , which Randy at first took for a codfish . They slept soundly , and early in the morning tried the sport again , starting for home at about noon , and arriving there with their burdens some time after midnight , worn out but happy . It was found that Foster Portney had not been idle during their absence . From time to time , as the canned eatables were disposed of , they had saved the tins , and now he had cleaned them out and filled some with such berries as still remained on the bushes about the gulch . To seal the cans up he had brought from Dawson City a stick of lead , and for an iron had used the end of a broken pick .