noon
-- but for the fancy-work with which I have idly decked her out ! '' The pleasant scent of the wood , evolved by the hot sun , stole up to my nostrils , as if I had been an idol in its niche . Many trees mingled their fragrance into a thousand-fold odor . Possibly there was a sensual influence in the broad light of noon that lay beneath me . It may have been the cause , in part , that I suddenly found myself possessed by a mood of disbelief in moral beauty or heroism , and a conviction of the folly of attempting to benefit the world . Our especial scheme of reform , which , from my observatory , I could take in with the bodily eye , looked so ridiculous that it was impossible not to laugh aloud . `` But the joke is a little too heavy , '' thought I. `` If I were wise , I should get out of the scrape with all diligence , and then laugh at my companions for remaining in it . ''