one in the morning
Perhaps he was lying on the snow , overcome and stiff with the cold , in agony of mind , lost and perhaps shouting for help , calling with all his might , in the silence of the night . But where ? The mountain was so vast , so rugged , so dangerous in places , especially at that time of the year , that it would have required ten or twenty guides walking for a week in all directions , to find a man in that immense space . Ulrich Kunsi , however , made up his mind to set out with Sam , if Gaspard did not return by one in the morning ; and he made his preparations . He put provisions for two days into a bag , took his steel climbing-irons , tied a long , thin , strong rope round his waist and looked to see that his iron-shod stick and his ax , which served to cut steps in the ice , were in order . Then he waited . The fire was burning on the hearth , the great dog was snoring in front of it , and the clock was ticking in its case of resounding wood , as regularly as a heart beating .