midnight
The episode had become more than embarrassing for Norman and Roy and they arose and left the room . Paul 's face was buried in his hands and his head was low on the table . Fifteen minutes later , the young Count and the oil man made their appearance , both very sober of face . At midnight when the last of the cargo had been unshipped , when the Indians had been fed again and when the white men had had a late supper of bannock and Nova Scotia butter and fresh tea , and when Colonel Howell and the boys had spread their heavy blankets on the fresh balsam , in Paul 's corner of the cabin lay the box that had brought him so much chagrin . Not once during the evening had the humiliating incident been referred to by those who participated in it . Colonel Howell being a far from hard taskmaster , especially in his dealings with the Indians , it was not until the morning of the second day that Moosetooth and La Biche led their men out of camp on the three-hundred mile tramp to Athabasca Landing . But the beginning of work in the camp did not await their departure .