the noon sun
But he `` reckoned '' not -- not yet . And yet he looked in wonder at the green slopes , and the woods , and the flashing creek , and nowhere in front of him -- wonder of all -- could he see a mountain . It was as Caleb Hazel had told him , only Chad was not looking for any such mysterious joy as thrilled his sensitive soul . There had been a light sprinkle of snow -- such a fall as may come even in early April -- but the noon sun had let the wheat-fields and the pastures blossom through it , and had swept it from the gray moist pike until now there were patches of white only in gully and along north hill-sides under little groups of pines and in the woods , where the sunlight could not reach ; and Chad trudged sturdily on in spite of his heavy rifle and his lame foot , keenly alive to the new sights and sounds and smells of the new world -- on until the shadows lengthened and the air chilled again ; on , until the sun began to sink close to the far-away haze of the horizon . Never had the horizon looked so far away . His foot began to hurt , and on the top of a hill he had to stop and sit down for a while in the road , the pain was so keen . The sun was setting now in a glory of gold , rose , pink , and crimson over him , the still clouds caught the divine light which swept swiftly through the heavens until the little pink clouds over the east , too , turned golden pink and the whole heavens were suffused with green and gold .