Taking a deep breath of the fresh air, he relished the fact that the night had brought with it the smell of the snow off the mountain, but not the bitter cold winds that had tortured them for the last few months. After being inside with forty well-worked men with the strong smell of hard labor, he felt like he was in heaven. The compound was beautifully peaceful during dinnertime, between the times everyone was rushing inside the mess hall until the time when they, most likely not as sober as they had been before, somehow made it to their bunks.