midday
Cracks and fissures were forming everywhere as they battled on for the miles that each one of which meant ten along the tops . `` Get on the sled , Doc , an ' take a snooze , '' Daw invited . The glare from the black eyes prevented him from repeating the suggestion . As early as midday they received definite warning of the beginning of the end . Cakes of ice , borne downward in the rapid current , began to thunder beneath the ice on which they stood . The dogs whimpered anxiously and yearned for the bank . `` That means open water above , '' Daw explained .