nearly noon
Once he startled a jay , but froze into immobility before that watchman of the woods had sprung his alarm . For full ten minutes the savage poised motionless . Then the bird flitted away , and he resumed his careful stalk . It was already nearly noon . The caribou had been feeding slowly forward . Now he would lie down . And Crooked Nose knew very well that the animal would make a little detour to right or left so as to be able to watch his back track .