noon
Darkness had fallen when they made camp again , and sat , worn-out and aching in every bone , about the sputtering lamp inside the little straining tent . The meal they made was a very frugal one , and they lay down in the darkness after it , for half their store of oil had been left behind in the crevice . They spoke seldom , for the second disaster had almost crushed the courage out of them , and it was clear to all that it would be only by a strenuous effort that they could reach the inlet before their provisions quite ran out . They slept , however , and rising in a stinging frost next morning set out again on the weary march , but it was slow traveling , and at noon they left the tent and poles behind . `` In another few days , '' said Wyllard , `` we 'll leave the sled . '' They made the beach that afternoon , though the only sign of it was the fringe of more ragged ice and the white slope beyond . A thin haze hung about them heavy with rime , and they could not see more than a quarter of a mile ahead .