nearly noon
they cried . `` It is a long and lonesome journey . '' And each one blessed him as they passed . It was nearly noon when he drove into the forest , and left the blooming meadows and the warm sunshine behind him . And now he urged the donkey forwards with speed ; for he knew that he had lost much precious time , and that many miles still lay between him and Regin 's charcoal-pits . And there was nothing here amid the thick shadows of the wood to make him wish to linger ; for the ground was damp , and the air was chilly , and every thing was silent as the grave . And not a living creature did Siegfried see , save now and then a gray wolf slinking across the road , or a doleful owl sitting low down in some tree-top , and blinking at him in the dull but garish light .