eight o'clock
To Challoner the business of the day was not a matter of personal pleasure , nor was it inspired alone by his desire to possess a cub along with Miki . He needed meat , and bear pork thus early in the season would be exceedingly good ; and above all else he needed a supply of fat . If he bagged this bear , time would be saved all the rest of the way down to civilization . It was eight o'clock when he struck the first unmistakably fresh signs of Noozak and Neewa . It was at the point where Noozak had fished four or five days previously , and where they had returned yesterday to feast on the `` ripened '' catch . Challoner was elated . He was sure that he would find the pair along the creek , and not far distant .