noon
And even though the air was warm , within Elza was ashiver . `` It is very wonderful to me , my Elza , this being alone with you . '' He sat beside her , gazing at her with his calm , impenetrable eyes . It was near noon of that day following their escape from the Water Festival . They had flown possibly two thousand miles . The Sun had risen , but after a time -- since their enormous speed and change of latitude had affected the angle at which they viewed it -- the Sun now was hanging almost level , not far above the horizon . Beneath the platform -- a mile below now -- lay a tumbled waste of naked crags .