midday
Often he fell through and had to step up again ; many a branch broke with him , letting him down ; but for the most part he stepped from fork to fork , on branch after branch , with balance of an Indian and the patience of a man whose purpose was sustaining and immutable . On that south slope under the Rim the sun beat down hot . There was no breeze to temper the dry air . And before midday Jean was laboring , wet with sweat , parching with thirst , dusty and hot and tiring . It amazed him , the doggedness and tenacity of life shown by this wounded rustler . The time came when under the burning rays of the sun he was compelled to abandon the walk across the tips of the manzanita bushes and take to the winding , open threads that ran between . It would have been poor sight indeed that could not have followed Queen 's labyrinthine and broken passage through the brush .