twelve o'clock
By this time she had forgotten her tears and her bashfulness , and he had drawn his knife to skin the bear on the spot . The flesh was of no value at this time ; he meant to bury the carcass and take only the skin . So she held , and he skinned ; then she ran down to the soeter for an axe and a spade ; and although she still felt afraid of the bear , and it had a bad smell , she kept on helping him till all was finished . By this time it was long past twelve o'clock , and he invited himself to dinner at the soeter . He washed himself and the skin , no small piece of work , and then came in and sat beside her while she finished preparing the food . He chatted about one thing and another , easily and pleasantly , in the low voice that seems to become natural to people who are much alone . Mildrid gave the shortest answers possible , and when it came to sitting opposite him at the table , she could neither speak nor eat , and there was often silence between them .