noon
Nailing a box cover over the window , and barring the door again , they went to bed . The following morning dawned bright and still in the Cañon of the Seven Spruces as the boys had named their home . Tired out with the excitement and exertion of the previous night they overslept , and not until the sun had appeared above the eastern peaks were they ready for a further examination of the neighborhood of the blood spots . They searched as they had the previous evening and with no better results , until noon . Then the unexpected happened ! They had given up the hunt disgustedly and were returning to the shack for dinner , when passing to windward of the seven spruces , Leslie chanced to pause beside the trunk of the outermost sentinel in the group . Ross , in advance , turned and , simultaneously , the gaze of both boys fell on another evidence that Leslie 's gun had drawn blood the night before .