midday
The endless , empty moorlands stretched before her , entirely unenclosed , and with no boundary but the horizon . Two lines of rails , a waggon shed , and a few telegraph posts , alone diversified the outlook . As for sounds , the silence was unbroken save by the chant of the telegraph wires and the crying of the plovers on the waste . With the approach of midday the wind had more and more fallen , it was now sweltering hot and the air trembled in the sunshine . Dick paused for an instant on the threshold of the platform . Then , in two steps , he was by her side and speaking almost with a sob . ` Esther , ' he said , ` have pity on me .