three in the afternoon
The water flows out from the banks and lies in pools which are cuddled from the cold by later surface-freezings and snow falls . Thus , a man , stepping on dry snow , might break through half an inch of ice-skin and find himself up to the knees in water . In five minutes , unless able to remove the wet gear , the loss of one 's foot was the penalty . Though only three in the afternoon , the long grey twilight of the Arctic had settled down . They watched for a blazed tree on either bank , which would show the center-stake of the last claim located . Joy , impulsively eager , was the first to find it . She darted ahead of Smoke , crying : `` Somebody 's been here !