midday
Henceforth I fear no more , and fight no more against that which must befall . For I say we are but winged seeds blown down the gales of fate and change to the appointed garden where we shall grow , filling its blest air with the immortal fragrance of our bloom . `` Leave me now , Leo , and sleep awhile , for we ride at dawn . '' It was midday on the morrow when we moved down the mountain-side with the army of the Tribes , fierce and savage-looking men . The scouts were out before us , then came the great body of their cavalry mounted on wiry horses , while to right and left and behind , the foot soldiers marched in regiments , each under the command of its own chief . Ayesha , veiled now -- for she would not show her beauty to these wild folk -- rode in the midst of the horse-men on a white mare of matchless speed and shape . With her went Leo and myself , Leo on the Khan 's black horse , and I on another not unlike it , though thicker built .