about noon
There was not a branch left . The trees were tremendous , half-calcined columns , and , for it was evident that any wild wind seldom entered the deep hollow , they might have stood in that condition a year or more . The trouble in traversing a brûlée is that one can not tell when , from some cause or other , one of them may come down . It was about noon , and they had with some difficulty dined on grindstone bread and canned stuff without a drink of any kind , when Weston , who was leading the horse , pulled it up suddenly . He was thirsty and short of temper , and in a mood that would have made it easier for him to smash through an obstacle instead of stopping , but he fancied that he saw a great blackened trunk close in front of him lean over a trifle . He was sure of it in another moment , and he urged the horse aside , for the towering column swayed and oscillated as though it strove to recover its equipoise , and then suddenly rushed earthward . He felt the wind it made strike cold upon his cheek , and then there was a deafening crash , and a cloud of fine black dust rose up .