noon
`` Certainly not , Kit , a mere invention -- we are boy and girl , and ... we 'll go on to the view . '' Suddenly they came out from the shade into a narrow lane of light , where some one of the former time , with an eye and a soul , had cleared a passage among the trees , so that one standing at the inner end and looking outwards could see the whole Glen , while the outstretched branches of the beeches shaded his eyes . Morning in the summer-time about five o'clock was a favourable hour , because one might see the last mists lift , and the sun light up the face of Ben Urtach , and evening-tide was better , because the Glen showed wonderfully tender in the soft light , and the Grampians were covered with glory . But it was best to take your first view towards noon , for then you could trace the Tochty upwards as it appeared and reappeared , till it was lost in woods at the foot of Glen Urtach , with every spot of interest on either side . Below the kirk it ran broad and shallow , with a bank of brushwood on one side and a meadow on the other , fringed with low bushes from behind which it was possible to drop a fly with some prospects of success , while in quite unprotected situations the Drumtochty fish laughed at the tempter , and departed with contemptuous whisks of the tail . Above the haughs was a little mill , where flax was once spun and its lade still remained , running between the Tochty and the steep banks down which the glen descended to the river . Opposite this mill the Tochty ran with strength , escaping from the narrows of the bridge , and there it was that Weelum MacLure drove across Sir George in safety , because the bridge was not for use that day .