midday
Then he began a search in the warmest and sunniest parts of the forest , where the green tips of plant life were beginning to reveal themselves . He found snowflowers , redglow , and bakneesh , and dug up root after root , and at last , peeping out from between two rocks , he found the arrowlike tip of a blue flower . The bakneesh roots he planted about the cairn , and the blue flower he planted by itself at the head of the grave . It was long past midday when he returned to the cabin , and once more he was oppressed by the appalling loneliness of it . It was not as he had thought it would be . Deane 's spirit and companionship had seemed to be nearer to him beside his campfires and in the forest . He cooked a meal over the stove , but the snapping of the fire seemed strange and unnatural in the deserted room .