nearly noon
He looked at the face of the sandbar reef against which the little red shanty-boat had been moored . The boat was gone ! Rasba , studying the hard sand , soon found the prints of bare feet , and he knew that Prebol had taken his departure precipitately , but the reason why was not so apparent to the man who had read many a wild turkey track , deer runway , and trails of other game . From sun-up till nearly noon , while he made and ate his breakfast , and while he turned to the Scriptures for some hint as to this river man 's mind , his thoughts turned again and again to the pictures which Prebol 's tales , boastings , whinings , and condition had inspired . He felt his own isolation , strangeness , and ignorance . He could not understand the man who had fled from assistance and succour ; at the same time the liveliness of his fancy reverted again and again to the woman living alone in such a desolation , shooting whoever menaced . That type was not new to him .