noon
In the early dawn he was afoot once more . Was there ever such an atrocious soul-freezing cold ! He cursed it with every breath he drew . At noon he felt a vast temptation to make another fire , but he refrained . Then that night he had bad luck , for one of his precious matches proved little more than a sliver tipped with the shadow of pink . In spite of his efforts it was abortive , and he was compelled to use another . He was down to his last match .