noon
`` It coils back on itself like a snake , and I have already counted seven coils within the city limits . I did n't believe it when the captain of a freighter told me that there was a place in the river which his boat could n't pass because two sharp turns came so near together , but now I see how that could easily be possible . '' As the launch putt-putt-putt-ed steadily up the river the water gradually became less black , and the factories along the shore gave way to open stretches of country . By noon they reached the dam and went ashore to look for a place to build a fire . They were in a deep gorge , its steep sides thickly covered with flaming maples and oaks , and brilliant sumachs , stretching on either side as far as they could reach . `` It 's too gorgeous to seem real , '' said Nyoda , shading her eyes and looking down the valley ; `` where _ does _ Mother Nature keep her pot of ` Diamond Dyes ' in the summer time ? '' High up along the top of one of the cliffs a narrow road wound along , and as Nyoda stood looking into the distance she saw an automobile coming along this road .