noon
Shall we run down and secure it ? '' `` I have no fear on that score , '' he replied ; `` it is a seal , and from the way it is lying , it is , I suspect , dead . Indeed , a live animal would not have got on the ice so early in the morning . They are now feeding , and love to come out of the water to bask at noon in the sun . We will wake up Terence and Tom , and get them to help to drag it up out of the reach of the sea . It will probably not be very palatable , though it will doubtless serve to keep us alive . But before we commence the work of the day , let us return thanks to Heaven for having preserved us through the great perils of the past night . ''