noon
'T is thus have I made beginning , '' he sighed , `` so now , God aiding me , ne'er will I rest 'till peace be come again and tyranny made an end of ! '' Then , very solemnly , did my Beltane kneel him beside the way and lifting the cross hilt of his sword to heaven kissed it , and thereafter rose . And so , having cleansed the steel within the earth , he sheathed the long blade and went , slowfooted , upon his way . The sun was high , and by his shadow Beltane judged it the noon hour ; very hot and very still it was , for the wind had died and leaf and twig hung motionless as though asleep . And presently as he went , a sound stole upon the stillness , a sound soft and beyond all things pleasant to hear , the murmurous ripple of running water near by . Going aside into the green therefore , Beltane came unto a brook , and here , screened from the sun ` neath shady willows , he laid him down to drink , and to bathe face and hands in the cool water . Now as he lay thus , staring sad-eyed into the hurrying waters of the brook , there came to him the clicking of sandalled feet , and glancing up , he beheld one clad as a black friar .