noon
`` Might run across a caribou , '' said he , `` but I scarcely think so this time of year . Besides , up here he does n't take to heavy timber like this same as he does in Maine and the Kanuck provinces . He runs in droves of hundreds and thousands up this way , and seems to like the scrub timber . '' A short time before noon they came to a sharp bend in the creek where the nature of the bank hid the current ahead from the boys in the two boats . Suddenly the Indians towing the leading craft stopped , and as three held it against the current , the leader of the team beckoned to Swiftwater , who had fallen behind . `` Carry , '' he said , briefly , to the latter as he came up , and pointed to the stream ahead . `` He means a portage , '' said the miner to Jack , who was walking with him , as they topped the rise , they went forward to inspect the creek .