midnight
But even while eating they fell asleep , drooping lower and lower , finally collapsing upon the canvas floor of the tent , the food still in their mouths . Yet , for all that , the night was miserable . Even after that day of superhuman struggle they were not to be allowed a few hours of unbroken rest . By midnight the wind had veered to the east and was blowing a gale . An hour later the tent came down . Exhausted as they were , they must turn out and wrestle with that slatting , ice-sheathed canvas , and it was not until half an hour later that everything was fast again . Once more they crawled into the sleeping-bags , but soon the heat from their bodies melted the ice upon their clothes , and pools of water formed under each man , wetting him to the skin .