noon
`` My native valley hath a thousand springs , but not to one of them shall I attach hereafter such precious recollection as to this solitary fount , which bestows its liquid treasures where they are not only delightful , but nearly indispensable . '' `` You say truth , '' said the Saracen ; `` for the curse is still on yonder sea of death , and neither man nor beast drinks of its waves , nor of the river which feeds without filling it , until this inhospitable desert be passed . '' They mounted , and pursued their journey across the sandy waste . The ardour of noon was now past , and a light breeze somewhat alleviated the terrors of the desert , though not without bearing on its wings an impalpable dust , which the Saracen little heeded , though his heavily-armed companion felt it as such an annoyance that he hung his iron casque at his saddle-bow , and substituted the light riding-cap , termed in the language of the time a MORTIER , from its resemblance in shape to an ordinary mortar . They rode together for some time in silence , the Saracen performing the part of director and guide of the journey , which he did by observing minute marks and bearings of the distant rocks , to a ridge of which they were gradually approaching . For a little time he seemed absorbed in the task , as a pilot when navigating a vessel through a difficult channel ; but they had not proceeded half a league when he seemed secure of his route , and disposed , with more frankness than was usual to his nation , to enter into conversation . `` You have asked the name , '' he said , `` of a mute fountain , which hath the semblance , but not the reality , of a living thing .