noon
* * * * * The situation the foreman faced when he plunged into the whirling blizzard in search of the boy , while calling for the utmost in man 's woodsmanship and endurance , was not so entirely hopeless as would appear . He remembered the intense interest evinced by the boy a few days before , when he had listened to the description of the rocky ledge which was the home of the _ loup-cerviers _ , and the eagerness with which he begged to visit the place . What was more natural , he argued , than that the youngster , finding himself in unexpected possession of a rifle and ammunition , had decided to explore the spot and do a little hunting on his own account ? The full fury of the storm had not broken until noon , and he figured that the boy would have had ample time to reach the bluff where he could find temporary shelter among the numerous caves of its rocky formation . Upon leaving the office , the boss headed straight for the rollway , and the mere holding his direction taxed his brain to the exclusion of all other thoughts . The air was literally filled with flying snow fine as dust , which formed an opaque screen through which his gaze penetrated scarcely an arm 's reach . Time and again he strayed from the skidway and brought up sharply against a tree , but each time he altered his course and floundered ahead until he found himself suddenly upon the steep slope where the bank inclined to the river .