noon
My scramble through the wood had fatigued me somewhat , and resolving to spend some hours on that spot , I looked round for a comfortable resting-place . I soon found a shady spot on the west side of an upright block of stone where I could recline at ease on a bed of lichen . Here , with shoulders resting against the rock , I sat thinking of Rima , alone in her wood today , with just a tinge of bitterness in my thoughts which made me hope that she would miss me as much as I missed her ; and in the end I fell asleep . When I woke , it was past noon , and the sun was shining directly on me . Standing up to gaze once more on the prospect , I noticed a small wreath of white smoke issuing from a spot about the middle of the forest belt beneath me , and I instantly divined that Nuflo had made a fire at that place , and I resolved to surprise him in his retreat . When I got down to the base of the hill the smoke could no longer be seen , but I had studied the spot well from above , and had singled out a large clump of trees on the edge of the belt as a starting-point ; and after a search of half an hour I succeeded in finding the old man 's hiding-place . First I saw smoke again through an opening in the trees , then a small rude hut of sticks and palm leaves .