midday
The two of us held close together , and chose the duskiest thickets , crawling belly-wise over the little clear patches and avoiding the crown of the ridge like the plague . The weather helped us , for the skies hung grey and low , with wisps of vapour curling among the trees . The glens were pits of mist , and my only guide was my recollection of what I had seen , and the easterly course of the streams . By midday we had mounted to the crest of a long scarp which fell away in a narrow and broken promontory towards the plains . So far we had seen nothing to give us pause , and the only risk lay in some Indian finding and following our trail . We lay close in a scrubby wood , and rested for a little , while we ate some food . Everything around us dripped with moisture , and I could have wrung pints from my coat and breeches .