noon
Higgins was silent . `` Well ? '' The engineer 's reply was to crash into the thicket , breaking the way ; and Payne followed without more words . At noon they dropped on a bed of vines which fairly smothered the brush , and ate sparingly of the venison they had brought ; cautiously they dipped water from a deep root hole and barely wet their lips . `` Have we made four miles ? '' asked Higgins . `` Just about -- less than a mile an hour .