midday
But these madmen are full of cunning , he said to himself , and when Jesus returned Paul asked if he had discovered from the shepherd if an order was abroad from Jericho to arrest two itinerant preachers on their way to Cæsarea . Jesus answered him that he had put no direct question to the shepherd . He had talked to him of the prospect of future rains , and we were both agreed , Jesus said , that the sky looked like rain , and he told me we should find water in the valley collected in pools among the rocks ; he mentioned one by a group of fig-trees which we could not miss seeing . Thou art safe , Paul , have no fear for thy safe arrival at Cæsarea at midday to-morrow . If a search had been ordered to arrest two wayfarers my shepherd would have heard of it , for it was about here that they would try to intercept us , and we shall do well to turn into a path that they will overlook even if they have sent out agents in pursuit of thee and Timothy . By midday they reached a region more rugged than the one they had come out of . The path they followed zigzagged up steep ascents and descended into crumbling valleys and plains filled with split stones , rubble and sand , a desert truly , without sign of a living thing till the shadow of an eagle 's wings passed over the hot stones .