midnight
No other deer would approach the lick , for the smell of the blood from the slain buck would warn its mates away . Only the creatures of prey would be attracted now . So he was down on his knees and had already begun to flay the dead carcass , and Enoch , seeing this , began to help him . It was near midnight , and when the hide was off , the tongue and the most tasty parts removed , Crow Wing built another fire , wrapped his blanket about him , and lay down to sleep . But Enoch could not sleep . He had cut off and hung up near the camp a haunch of the venison to take back with him in the morning . They had removed so far from the lick that certain preying beasts dared quarrel over the remains of the noble buck until daylight ; but the youth sat with his back against a tree and his rifle across his knees until the dimpling water of the creek was kissed by the first beams of the sun which shot over the distant range of hills .