noon
She combed it with her fingers and rearranged it and then looked again -- nothing . It came to her suddenly that though she were to sit there forever the vigil would be useless , that Bompard had gone -- never to return . She reasoned with this feeling , and reason only increased her fears . It was now noon , Bompard was not the man to go on a long expedition by himself ; he was too inactive and easy-going . No , something had happened to him and he might at that moment be lying dead at the foot of some cliff or he might have broken a leg and be lying at the foot of some rock unable to move . She rose up and came swiftly down to the beach . Reaching the caves she found La Touche opening a tin .