noon
`` Dear dame , '' I said , `` think you this storm is worse at sea ? '' `` Aye , my lamb , 't is from an ugly quarter ; but the _ Carolina _ has weathered harder blows , and haply she has found good anchorage in some safe harbour . '' I tried to think the same ; nevertheless , in the long hours that we sat there , listening to the heavy gusts and beating rain , my heart went faint at the possibility of this new danger to my beloved . It must have been past noon when the padre came to us again . He brought food with him freshly cooked , -- meat and fish , and broth of parched corn-flour , not unpleasant to the taste . `` The wind is abating , '' he declared , `` and the clouds are breaking away . When the rain ceases we may venture to pursue our journey . ''