noon
Heath was one of those men who could not understand effortless faith ; he was crushed by his own lack of success , and bowed down by his own failure . Since he could not rout the enemy single-handed , he believed that the battle was against the Hosts of the Lord . He knew no leisure from the war of his own thoughts , and as he clasped his hands , his face grew tense and set , and his eyes haggard and terrible . For a moment he sat very still , and his eyes followed the lines written by a man who had the faith of a little child : `` But Time did beckon to the flowers , and they , By noon , most cunningly did steal away . '' Heath had never gathered flowers , either as a lesson to himself or a gift for others ; they hardly spoke of careless beauty to him , they were emblems of lightness and thoughtlessness , and Heath had no time to stop and consider the lilies of the field . He moved suddenly like a man who is awakened from a thought heavier than sleep , and listened with a hunted look , the look of a man who is afraid of footsteps ; he stood up , gathering his loose limbs together and watching the door . Steps came up the staircase , steps that stumbled a little , and if Heath had possessed Mhtoon Pah 's art of reading the walk of his fellow creatures , he would have known that he might expect a woman and not a man .