noon
Of all this Blanka could understand nothing . What great harm , she wondered , could come from the burning of an old beech-tree ? Toward evening the travellers found themselves on a height commanding a wide view of the surrounding country . To the north rose the cliff where they had lunched at noon , and where they could still see black smoke ascending in a column from the smouldering beech as from a factory chimney . To the southeast another column of smoke was visible , and toward the same quarter Torda Gap opened before them in the distance . Aaron said they must halt here and rest their horses , whereupon all three dismounted and Manasseh spread a sheepskin for Blanka to sit on ; but she chose rather to go in quest of wild flowers . `` Your Blanka is a jewel of a woman ! ''