eight o'clock
The moon rose higher ; the blood in it paled to the crimson glow of the moose flower , and silvered as it climbed into the sky , until the orb hung like a great golden-white disk . In the splendor of it the solitude of ice and snow glistened without end . There was no sound but the slipping of the sledge , the pattering of the dogs ' moccasined feet , and now and then a few breathless words spoken by Rod or his companions . It was a little after eight o'clock by Rod 's watch when there came a change in the appearance of the lake ahead of them . Wabi , who was on the sledge , was the first to notice it , and he shouted back his discovery to the white youth . `` The forest ! We 're across ! ''