nine o'clock before
The remainder he distributed , drop by drop , in trails running toward the swamp and plains . There still remained three hours before the moon would be up , and the hunters now joined Wolf , who had been fastened half-way up the ridge . In the shelter of a big rock a small fire was built , and during their long wait the hunters passed the time away by broiling and eating chunks of venison and in going over again the events of the day . It was nine o'clock before the moon rose above the edge of the wilderness . This great orb of the Northern night seemed to hold a never-ending fascination for Rod . It crept above the forests , a glowing , throbbing ball of red , quivering and palpitating in an effulgence that neither cloud nor mist dimmed in this desolation beyond the sphere of man ; and as it rose , almost with visible movement to the eyes , the blood in it faded , until at last it seemed a great blaze of soft light between silver and gold . It was then that the whole world was lighted up under it .