midday
Yet the three remained defiantly all that day and all through the following night . The next morning , with ample supplies in their packs , they turned their faces southward , and cautiously climbed the ridge in that direction , once more passing into the region of the peaks . To their surprise they struck several comparatively fresh trails in the passes , and they were soon forced to the conclusion that the hostile forces were still all about them . Near midday they stopped in a narrow gorge between high peaks and listened to calls of the inhabitants of the forest , the faint howls of wolves , and once or twice the yapping of a fox . `` The warriors signaling to one another ! '' said Willet . `` It is so , '' said Tayoga .