noon sun
Under a noon sun the vast , flat country , buried deep in snow , lay like a paper hoop rimmed by the dark primeval forest ; its surface shone with an unbearable brightness as of sun-struck glass , every crystal gleaming and quivering with intense cold light . To the north a single blunt , low mountain-head broke the evenness of the horizon line . Hugh Garth seemed to leap through paper like a tiny active clown as he dropped down into the small space shoveled clear in front of his hidden cabin door . The roof was weighted with drift , so that a curling mass like the edge of a wind-crowded wave about to break hung low over the eaves .