midday
He had talked to him of the prospect of future rains , and we were both agreed , Jesus said , that the sky looked like rain , and he told me we should find water in the valley collected in pools among the rocks ; he mentioned one by a group of fig-trees which we could not miss seeing . Thou art safe , Paul , have no fear for thy safe arrival at Cæsarea at midday to-morrow . If a search had been ordered to arrest two wayfarers my shepherd would have heard of it , for it was about here that they would try to intercept us , and we shall do well to turn into a path that they will overlook even if they have sent out agents in pursuit of thee and Timothy . By midday they reached a region more rugged than the one they had come out of . The path they followed zigzagged up steep ascents and descended into crumbling valleys and plains filled with split stones , rubble and sand , a desert truly , without sign of a living thing till the shadow of an eagle 's wings passed over the hot stones . Jesus told Paul that the birds nested up among the clefts yonder and were most destructive in the spring when the ewes were lambing . Having to feed three or four eaglets , he said , the birds would descend on the flocks , the she-eagle , the larger , stronger and fiercer , will attack and drive off even the dog that does not fear a wolf , yet I have seen , he continued , a timid ewe , her youngling behind her in a coign in the hill , face the bird fiercely and butt it till she lost her eyes , poor ewe , for I came up too late with my staff .