noon
`` Still , you 're tough , and I guess the first hard day 's ride will be enough for your partner . '' Five minutes later Blake was picking his way as fast as possible through the wood . It was a cool morning , and when he had gone a few miles the ground was fairly clear . By noon he was in more open country , where there were long stretches of grass , and after a short rest he pushed on fast . Bright sunshine flooded the waste that now stretched back to the south , sprinkled with clumps of bush that showed a shadowy blue in the distance . In those he passed the birch and poplar leaves glowed in flecks of vivid lemon among the white stems , but Blake rode hard , his eyes turned steadily on the misty skyline . It was only broken by clusters of small trees ; nothing moved on the wilderness he pushed across .