midnight
He crouched with eyes closed , his head upon his knees , keeping his watch upon the trail with his ears . But no whining of dogs , churning of sleds , nor cries of drivers broke the silence . With twilight he returned to the tent , cut a supply of firewood , ate two biscuits , and crawled into his blankets . He slept restlessly , tossing about and groaning ; and at midnight he got up and ate another biscuit . Each day grew colder . Four biscuits could not keep up the heat of his body , despite the quantities of hot spruce tea he drank , and he increased his allowance , morning and evening , to three biscuits . In the middle of the day he ate nothing , contenting himself with several cups of excessively weak real tea .