noon
Darkness and the coming of the storm did not drive Pierre Radisson into camp . `` We must reach the river , '' he said to himself over and over again . `` We must reach the river -- we must reach the river -- '' And he steadily urged Kazan on to greater effort , while his own strength at the end of the traces grew less . It had begun to storm when Pierre stopped to build a fire at noon . The snow fell straight down in a white deluge so thick that it hid the tree trunks fifty yards away . Pierre laughed when Joan shivered and snuggled close up to him with the baby in her arms . He waited only an hour , and then fastened Kazan in the traces again , and buckled the straps once more about his own waist .