noon
As the ground rose again , it was stony and overgrown with cactus . A great desolation took possession of the girl . She felt as if she were in an endless flight from an unseen pursuer , who would never give up until he had her . It was high noon by the glaring sun when she suddenly saw another human being . At first she was not quite sure whether he were human . It was only a distant view of a moving speck ; but it was coming toward her , though separated by a wide valley that had stretched already for miles . He was moving along against the sky-line on a high bench on one side of the valley , and she mounting as fast as her weary beast would go to the top of another , hoping to find a grassy stretch and a chance to rest .