Noon
`` We 'll see , '' he whispered . She drew in , and he moved on . Morning passed . Noon came . From horizon to horizon the sky was one unbroken blue . The sun spread its bright , hot rays down upon the town and far beyond , ripening the distant , countless fields of the great delta , which by and by were to empty their abundance into the city 's lap for the employment , the nourishing , the clothing of thousands . But in the dusty streets , along the ill-kept fences and shadowless walls of the quiet districts , and on the glaring façades and heated pavements of the commercial quarters , it seemed only as though the slowly retreating summer struck with the fury of a wounded Amazon .