noon sun
_ Luteplayer 's Song . _ Broken lengths of wall , a crumbling indication of the spring of once exquisite arches , windows gaping darkly like the eye sockets of a skull -- this was all that was left of the old priory of Pulwick , whilom proud seat of clerical power and learning . But the image of decay was robbed of all melancholy by the luxuriance of climbing vegetation , by the living screen of noble firs and larches arranged in serried ranks upon the slopes immediately behind it , with here and there a rugged sentinel within the ruinous yards and rooms themselves ; by wild bushes of juniper and gorse and brambles . And , with the bright noon sun pouring down upon the worn red sandstone , and gilding the delicate tassels of the larches ' green needles ; with the light of young love , spreading glamour upon every leaf and stone , in the eyes of the lovers , the scene , witness of so many sweet meetings , bore that day a beautiful and home-like aspect . Captain Jack was standing upon the grass-grown floor of what had been the departed monks ' refectory , with ears eagerly bent to listen . Three ragged walls , a clump of fir trees , and a bank of brambles screened him from any chance passer-by , and he now and again peered through a crevice on to a path through the woods , cautiously , as if fearful to venture forth . His face was pale beneath its tan , and had none of its usual brightness ; his attire for him was disordered ; his whole appearance that of a man under the pressure of doubt and anxiety .