noon
And what am I to say ? He is very rustic , very cunning , very loutish , and , I should say , an innocent ; the others are probably to match . No , no , senor commandante , you must seek congenial society among the great sights of our mountains ; and in these at least , if you are at all a lover of the works of nature , I promise you will not be disappointed . ' The next day Felipe came for me in a rough country cart , drawn by a mule ; and a little before the stroke of noon , after I had said farewell to the doctor , the innkeeper , and different good souls who had befriended me during my sickness , we set forth out of the city by the Eastern gate , and began to ascend into the Sierra . I had been so long a prisoner , since I was left behind for dying after the loss of the convoy , that the mere smell of the earth set me smiling . The country through which we went was wild and rocky , partially covered with rough woods , now of the cork-tree , and now of the great Spanish chestnut , and frequently intersected by the beds of mountain torrents . The sun shone , the wind rustled joyously ; and we had advanced some miles , and the city had already shrunk into an inconsiderable knoll upon the plain behind us , before my attention began to be diverted to the companion of my drive .