nine
o'clock
And , finally , they would have seen him keep on the old dim trail that still led south . A trail did run up the creek , but so slight was it that they continually lost it in the darkness . After a quarter of an hour , Joy Gastell was willing to drop into the rear and let the two men take turns in breaking a way through the snow . This slowness of the leaders enabled the whole stampede to catch up , and when daylight came , at nine o'clock , as far back as they could see was an unbroken line of men . Joy 's dark eyes sparkled at the sight . `` How long since we started up the creek ? '' she asked .