midnight
Ben , though terribly weakened , would be able to walk a short distance with her help . They could slip into the deepest forest , concealing themselves in the coverts until the three men had given up the search and gone away . She would take their robes and blankets to keep them warm ; a camp fire would of course reveal their hiding place . The work could easily be accomplished in the midnight shadows : deliverance , salvation , life itself depended on the tide of fate in the next few hours . She intended to steal the kyack of dried meat without which Ben and herself could not live . She crept back farther into the underbrush ; then waited , scarcely breathing , while the fire died down . Already the three men were preparing to go to their bunks .