nine
o’clock
Ten minutes later Louis Bondell went out and found him on the steps , sitting down , elbows on knees and chin on hands , gazing steadfastly out into the darkness . Day had broken cold and grey , exceedingly cold and grey , when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank , where a dim and little-travelled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland . It was a steep bank , and he paused for breath at the top , excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch . It was nine o'clock . There was no sun nor hint of sun , though there was not a cloud in the sky . It was a clear day , and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things , a subtle gloom that made the day dark , and that was due to the absence of sun . This fact did not worry the man .