midday
The day was soundless and windless , and the heat - waves rose from the desert like smoke . For Hare the realities were the baked clay flats , where Silvermane broke through at every step ; the beds of alkali , which sent aloft clouds of powdered dust ; the deep gullies full of round bowlders ; thickets of mesquite and prickly thorn which tore at his legs ; the weary detour to head the canyons ; the climb to get between two bridging mesas ; and always the haunting presence of the sad - eyed dog . His unrealities were the shimmering sheets of water in every low place ; the baseless mountains floating in the air ; the green slopes rising close at hand ; beautiful buttes of dark blue riding the open sand , like monstrous barks at sea ; the changing outlines of desert shapes in pink haze and veils of purple and white lustre -- all illusions , all mysterious tricks of the mirage . In the heat of midday Hare yielded to its influence and reined in his horse under a slate-bank where there was shade . His face was swollen and peeling , and his lips had begun to dry and crack and taste of alkali . Then Wolf pattered on ; Silvermane kept at his heels ; Hare dozed in the saddle . His eyes burned in their sockets from the glare , and it was a relief to shut out the barren reaches .