eight o'clock
The next moment he was making his way up the gully 's side , and soon a triumphant shout announced that he had reached the road and was off for the lumber camp at his best speed . The task before him was one from which many a grown man might have shrunk in dismay . For five long , lonely miles the road ran through the forest that darkened it with heavy shadows , and not a living soul could he hope to meet until he reached the shanty . It was now past eight o'clock , and to do his best it would take him a whole hour to reach his goal . The snow lay deep upon the road , and was but little beaten down by the few sleighs that had passed over it . The air was keen and crisp with frost , the temperature being many degrees below zero . And finally , the most fear-inspiring of all , there was the possibility of wolves , for the dreaded timber wolf had been both heard and seen in close proximity to the camp of late , an unusual scarcity of small game having made him daring in his search for food .