noon
So tense was he , so bent upon the work he had to do , that the sweat stung his eyes unwiped , and unheeded rolled down his nose and spattered his saddle pommel . The band of his cavalryman 's hat was fresh-stained with sweat . The roan horse under him was likewise wet . It was high noon of a breathless day of heat . Even the birds and squirrels did not dare the sun , but sheltered in shady hiding places among the trees . Man and horse were littered with leaves and dusted with yellow pollen , for the open was ventured no more than was compulsory . They kept to the brush and trees , and invariably the man halted and peered out before crossing a dry glade or naked stretch of upland pasturage .