noon
Iskender stayed and cooked a tempting meal out of the provisions given by the Arab sheykh . Then taking food and water for himself and his horse , he returned to his hiding-place , where , in the shelter of a rock , he spent that night . In the dawn he listened for the sounds of starting , and heard the mule-bells die away before he mounted . He had saved a piece of bread , a date or two , on which he broke his fast at noon ; and not long after saw the tent shine forth , white in the yellow landscape , beside the flat roofs of a village terracing a steep hillside . He recognised the place as one of those where they had rested happily upon the outward way . The sheykh received him in his house ; his horse was cared for . Towards sunset he approached the tent .