noon
`` I swear it ! '' he murmured to himself . `` For _ her _ sake , for theirs , and for the world 's , I swear it shall be ! '' At high noon they emerged once more from the caverns , climbed the steep cliff face , and again stood on the heights . Facing northward , their gaze swept the lower river-bank opposite , and reached away , away , over the rolling hills and plains that lay , a virgin forest , to the dim horizon , brooding , mysterious , quivering with fertility and wild , strange life . `` Some time , '' he prophesied , sweeping his arm out toward the wilderness -- `` some time all _ that _ -- and far beyond -- shall be dotted with clearings and rich farms , with cottages , schools , towns , cities . Broad highways shall traverse it .