noon
The actual danger of Indian presence even would have been a relief . The rain beat in an unceasing deluge , and he was hard put to it to keep his rifle and ammunition dry . The sliding snow made his foothold so treacherous that he was compelled to keep among the wet and flapping bushes , where he could grasp support on an instant 's notice . At noon , though there was no sun to tell him that it had come , he stopped in a dense thicket and ate one of the rabbits , reflecting rather grimly that though he had been anxious for the rain to come it was making him thoroughly uncomfortable . Yet even these clouds covering all the heavens had at least one strip of silver lining . The harder and more persistently the rain fell the quicker the snow would be gone , and once more the wilderness would be fit for travel and habitation . When he had eaten the rabbit , although he longed for some other kind of food , he felt better .