an hour after noon
That liking added to the seriousness of his situation in John Hunter 's home . He mopped his perspiring brow , while little wet lines showed in the creases of his sleeves and across the back of his thin summer shirt . The fierce heat parched his mouth and his whole burning body called for a drink . Tying his team to a post an hour after noon he vaulted over the fence and walked to the creek , picking his way down to the narrow stream . The heat of summer was drying the brook up rapidly ; already there was but a tiny rivulet , but such as was left curled and trickled between grassy banks in a manner to attract the eye of a thirsty man . Hugh knelt on a hummock with his hand on the opposite bank and drank as only the man who plows corn on a hot June day can . As he stood up he paused with his handkerchief halfway to his face and listened , while the water dripped from nose and chin unheeded .