noon
Instead , it brought back to him a song that was made by the moving air playing softly upon leaf and bough . Hence , he inferred that they were still ascending , and had come into better watered regions where the bushes had grown to the height of trees now in full leaf . Once they crossed a rather deep creek , and deliberately letting his foot drop down into it , he found the water quite cold , which was proof to him that they were going back toward the ridges , and that this current was chill , because it flowed from great heights , perhaps from a glacier . They made no stop at noon , merely eating a little pemmican , Will 's share being handed to him by Inmutanka . He ate it as he rode along still blindfolded . The ponies , wiry and strong though they were , soon began to go much more slowly , and the captive was sure that the ascent was growing steeper . He was confirmed in this by the fact that the wind , although it was mid-afternoon , the hottest part of the day , had quite a touch of coolness .