noon
No man doubted that General -- would keep his word rigorously whenever severity was required , and Elspat , therefore , knew that her son , when he perceived that due compliance with his orders was impossible , must at the same time consider the degrading punishment denounced against his defection as inevitable , should he place himself within the general 's power . -LSB- See Note 10 . -- Fidelity of the Highlanders . -RSB- When noon was well passed , new apprehensions came on the mind of the lonely woman . Her son still slept under the influence of the draught ; but what if , being stronger than she had ever known it administered , his health or his reason should be affected by its potency ? For the first time , likewise , notwithstanding her high ideas on the subject of parental authority , she began to dread the resentment of her son , whom her heart told her she had wronged . Of late , she had observed that his temper was less docile , and his determinations , especially upon this late occasion of his enlistment , independently formed , and then boldly carried through .