About noon
Across the lake he saw the steep down which he had slid , looming white and lofty . In the distance it looked perpendicular , and , whatever its terrors , it had , beyond a doubt , saved his life . He glanced down at his swollen ankle , and , despite his helpless situation , he was thankful that he had escaped so well . About noon he moved enough to throw up the snowbanks higher all around himself in the fashion of an Eskimos house . Then he let the fire die except some coals that gave forth no smoke , stretched the blanket over his head in the manner of a roof , and once more resumed his quiet and stillness . He was now like a crippled animal in its lair , but he was warm , and his wound did not hurt him . But hunger began to trouble him .