midnight
At the suggestion of the steersmen , it was at once decided to make no landing that night but to take advantage of the easy going , as the cold wind would soon sweep the fog away . Strongly touched by the air of Paul 's song , which the singer laughingly explained was a song without words , as he had made it up mainly from snatches of Italian opera , the words of which he could not recall , Norman and Roy got Paul on the rear deck and began to prepare for the night . The assistance of one of the crew was necessary to prepare the blankets in an expert manner . Before midnight Colonel Howell and the three young men , snugly wrapped in their new `` four points , '' found no trouble in losing themselves to the world without . Long before the sun showed itself above the high poplar-crowned hills that lined each bank of the Athabasca , Norman and Roy had slipped out of their blankets . It was their first view of an absolute wilderness . The boats were still drifting silently forward , with no sign of life except in the erect forms of Moosetooth and old La Biche , who were yet standing against their long steering oars as they had stood through the night .