noon
Until they find running water again snow and ice take the place of liquid drink ; warm caverns dug in the snow give refuge in place of thick swamp moss and brush and leaves . All the big animals , like moose , deer and caribou , will soon make ` yards ' for themselves by trampling down large areas of snow , and in these yards they will gather in big herds , eating their way through the forests , fighting the wolves and waiting for spring . Oh , life is n't altogether bad for the animals in a deep winter like this ! '' Until noon the hunters were busy cleaning away the snow from the cabin door . As the day advanced the blizzard increased in its fury , until , with the approach of night , it became impossible for the hunters to expose themselves to it . For three days the storm continued with only intermittent lulls , but with the dawn of the fourth day the sky was again cloudless , and the sun rose with a blinding effulgence . Rod now found himself suffering from that sure affliction of every tenderfoot in the far North -- snow-blindness .