noon
Darkness had fallen when they made camp again , and sat , worn-out and aching in every limb , about the sputtering lamp inside the little , straining tent . The meal they made was a very frugal one , and they lay down in the darkness after it , for half their store of oil had been left behind in the crevice . They said very little , for the second disaster had almost crushed the courage out of them , and it was very clear to all that it would only be by a strenuous effort they could reach the inlet before their provisions quite ran out . They slept , however , and rising in a stinging frost next morning set out again on the weary march , but it was slow travelling , and at noon they left the tent and poles behind . `` In another few days , '' said Wyllard , `` we 'll leave the sled . '' They made the beach that afternoon , though the only sign of it was the fringe of more ragged ice and the white slope beyond the latter . A thin haze hung about them heavy with frosty rime , and they could not see more than a quarter of a mile ahead .