noon
`` If the fight were fair , '' said the hillsman , `` and it were man to man , the defile is the better way ; but these be dogs of cowards who strike from behind rocks . No one of them has a heart truer than Boonda Broke 's , the master of the carrion . We will go by the hills . The way is harder but more open , and if we be prospered we will rest awhile at the Bar of Balmud , and at noon we will tether and eat in the Neck of Baroob . '' They made their way through the medlar trees and scrub to the plateau above , and , the height gained , they turned to look back . The sun was up , and trailing rose and amber garments across the great Eastern arch . Their path lay towards it , for Pango Dooni hid in the hills , where the sun hung a roof of gold above his stronghold .