Fresh snow had fallen during the night, but the sun was so bright and warm that the cold had no chance against it.

The winter was advancing, as was evidenced by longer hours of daylight and hotter sunshine; but when night came the frost was more severe than ever, as if loath to loose its grip on the lakes and streams of that wide white land.
Roaring Water Portage had lost all claim to its name for the present.

The river which rushed in summer with a roar over the rocks in rapids was absolutely silent now, and the rocks were merely snow-covered hummocks.

The river above was frozen, there was no water to run down, and all the resonant echoes were dumb.
The silence and the brightness suited Katherine's mood.

She hurried on in front, so that even the shouts of Miles to the dogs became faint in the distance.