midday
Still this soldier held on , saying nothing to his men , writing his intensely practical diary , and trusting as a soldier should to the _ Deus ex machina _ who finally allows discipline to triumph . He looked down into the valley , piercing the shimmer of its hazes with his gentle blue eyes , looking to his chief , who had said , `` In three days I will join you . '' It was not the first time that Agar and the little non-commissioned native officer , Ben Abdi , had stood thus together . They had taken their stand in this same spot in the keen air of the early morning , with the white frost crystallising the stones around them ; in the glow of midday ; and when the moon , hanging over the sharp-pointed hills , cast the valley into an opaque shade dark and fathomless as the valley of death . Scanning the distant hills , Agar presently raised his eyes , noting the position of the sun in the heavens . `` Have you tried the heliograph a second time this morning ? '' he asked without looking round , which informality of manner warmed the little soldier 's heart .