noon
He saw many sheep trails and horse tracks in the vicinity of this mountain , and once he was sure he espied an Indian watching him from a bold ridge-top . The day was bright and warm , with air so clear it magnified objects he knew to be far away . The ascent was gradual ; there were many narrow flats connected by steps ; and the grass grew thicker and longer . At noon Shefford halted under the first cedar-tree , a lonely , dwarfed shrub that seemed to have had a hard life . From this point the rise of ground was more perceptible , and straggling cedars led the eye on to a purple slope that merged into green of pinyon and pine . Could that purple be the sage Venters had so feelingly described , or was it merely the purple of deceiving distance ? Whatever it might be , it gave Shefford a thrill and made him think of the strange , shy , and lovely woman Venters had won out here in this purple-sage country .