noon
But he was always listening , and his eyes were ever roving . This alertness had become second nature with him , so that except in extreme cases of caution he performed it while he pondered his gloomy and fateful situation . Such habit of alertness and thought made time fly swiftly . By noon he had rounded the wide curve of the brake and was facing south . The bluff had petered out from a high , mountainous wall to a low abutment of rock , but it still held to its steep , rough nature and afforded no crack or slope where quick ascent could have been possible . He pushed on , growing warier as he approached the danger-zone , finding that as he neared the river on this side it was imperative to go deeper into the willows . In the afternoon he reached a point where he could see men pacing to and fro on the bluff .