midday
The sun had by now set : its glow died away on the road above . It grew dark and cool . Lipa and Praskovya walked on and for some time they kept crossing themselves . A SULTRY , stifling midday . Not a cloudlet in the sky ... . The sun-baked grass had a disconsolate , hopeless look : even if there were rain it could never be green again ... . The forest stood silent , motionless , as though it were looking at something with its tree-tops or expecting something .