the noon sun
As soon as he ceased his tramp and the noise of his crunching , grinding footsteps died away , the silence , vast , illimitable , enfolded him like an immeasurable tide . From all that gigantic landscape , that colossal reach of baking sand , there arose not a single sound . Not a twig rattled , not an insect hummed , not a bird or beast invaded that huge solitude with call or cry . Everything as far as the eye could reach , to north , to south , to east , and west , lay inert , absolutely quiet and moveless under the remorseless scourge of the noon sun . The very shadows shrank away , hiding under sage-bushes , retreating to the farthest nooks and crevices in the cañóns of the hills . All the world was one gigantic blinding glare , silent , motionless . `` If it gets much hotter , '' murmured the dentist again , moving his head from side to side , `` if it gets much hotter , I don ' know what I 'll do . ''