noon
One of the hounds which attacked him he had flung against a rock , and the other he pelted with stones till it fled howling into a thicket . He had seen no other pursuers , either that night , or during the whole of the next day . At last he again reached a travelled road and found country people who told him which way Pharaoh 's army had marched . At noon , overwhelmed by fatigue , he had fallen asleep under the shade of a sycamore , and when he awoke the sun was near its setting . He was very hungry , so he took a few turnips from a neighboring field . But their owner suddenly sprang from a ditch near by , and he barely escaped his pursuit . He had wandered along during a part of the night , and then rested beside a well on the roadside , for he knew that wild beasts shun such frequented places .