Noon
David 's voice sounded a trifle weary . It was hard indeed to meet with such continued discouragement . Breakfast finished , the seekers again took up their quest . Noon found them not more than three miles away from the spot where they had breakfasted . The necessity of halting frequently to inspect some especially tangled bit of undergrowth or suspicious looking covert large enough to conceal the body of a man , made their progress painfully slow . Toward the middle of the afternoon , a cold rain set in , thereby adding to the discomforts of their march . Although it was early October , the great trees above their heads were partially stripped of their foliage , thus offering them little protection from the unceasing drizzle .