noon
It was not until the following summer that he learned the facts of Henry 's madness , and of the terrible manner in which he avenged himself on Croker by sticking a knife under the latter 's ribs . For the first time in his life Roscoe found himself in a position to measure accurately the amount of energy contained in a slice of bacon and a cold biscuit . It was not much . Long before noon his old weakness was upon him again . He found even greater difficulty in dragging his feet over the snow , and it seemed now as though all ambition had left him , and that even the fighting spark was becoming disheartened . He made up his mind to go on until the arctic gloom of night began mingling with the storm ; then he would stop , build a fire , and go to sleep in its warmth . He would never wake up , and there would be no sensation of discomfort in his dying .