ten o'clock
That was the thanks he gave `` Doc Tenderfoot '' for saving his life . That night the storm ceased and a warm wind arose . The next morning Ross again shoveled out the doorway , window , and wood-pile . The sky was clear , but the sun did not swing over the towering peak which rose almost perpendicular , opposite the cabin , until ten o'clock . But , when it did show its face , it looked down on a bewildering mass of snow . Ross gazed longingly down the cañon , which wound like a serpent between the overhanging mountains . Down there not half a mile away a ledge ran diagonally across the face of a cliff ; and Ross felt impelled to go to the foot of that cliff , and find out whether or not the rope still dangled from its summit .