noon
A sense of utter defeat seemed to paralyze her energies . She felt like a trapped thing that after eluding its pursuers again and again finds that it has been but running about a corral . Physical weariness was telling on her . She had been in the saddle since a little past noon and it was now not far from midnight . And still there was the unanswered question of Peter 's errand . It was long since either had broken the silence . A delicious coolness had crept into the air with the approach of midnight .