noon
The hail ceased , but the rain fell and the wind blew throughout the morning . We made what speed we could over the boggy earth against the storm , but we knew that we were measuring miles where we should have measured leagues . There was no breath to waste in words , and thought was a burden quite intolerable ; it was enough to stumble on through the partial light , with a mind as gray and blank as the rain-blurred distance . At noon the clouds broke , and an hour later the sunshine was streaming down from a cloudless heaven , beneath which the forest lay clear before us , naught stirring save shy sylvan creatures to whom it mattered not if red man or white held the land . Side by side Diccon and I hurried on , not speaking , keeping eye and ear open , proposing with all our will to reach the goal we had set , and to reach it in time , let what might oppose . It was but another forced march ; many had we made in our time , through dangers manifold , and had lived to tell the tale . There was no leisure in which to play the Indian and cover up our footprints as we made them , but when we came to a brook we stepped into the cold , swift-flowing water , and kept it company for a while .