three o'clock
A few more strokes , and water gushed through . Filling two pails the boys returned to camp . The shadows from the sharp pointed cedars of the forest were falling far out upon the frozen lake when the meal was finished , and the sun , sinking early to its rest beyond the homeless solitudes , infused but little warmth as the three hunters prepared to leave . It was only three o'clock , but a penetrating chill was growing in the air . Half an hour more and only a reddish glow would be where the northern sun still shone feebly . In the far North winter night falls with the swiftness of wings ; it enshrouds one like a palpable , moving thing , a curtain of gloom that can almost be touched and felt , and so it came now , as the dogs were hitched to their sledge and Rod , Mukoki and Wabigoon bade good-by to the driver of the Hudson Bay mail . `` You 'll make the other side in four hours , '' he called , as Mukoki 's cries sent the dogs trotting out upon the lake .