midday
Let us rest awhile : we 'll find the others soon enough . '' Elisabeth sat down under the overhanging branch of a beech and listened intently in every direction . Reinhard sat a few paces off on a tree stump , and gazed over at her in silence . The sun was just above their heads , shining with the full glare of midday heat . Tiny , gold-flecked , steel-blue flies poised in the air with vibrating wings . Their ears caught a gentle humming and buzzing all round them , and far away in the wood were heard now and again the tap-tap of the woodpecker and the screech of other birds . `` Listen , '' said Elisabeth , `` I hear a bell . ''