noon
Courtenay obtained a telescope . With the tact which never failed him , even in such a desperate crisis as this , he handed the doctor his binoculars . Then , both men looked at the summit of Guanaco Hill . Though it was high noon , and the landscape was shimmering in the heat-mist created by the unusual power and brilliance of the sun , they distinctly saw a thin pillar of smoke rising above the trees . Courtenay closed his telescope . He made to approach Boyle , evidently for the purpose of giving some order , when Christobal said quietly : `` Wait ! I have something to say to you .