noon
Emma declared that she never could live through it , and Grace began to have doubts herself with reference to her little friend . As they progressed , the landscape grew more and more desolate and forbidding . Gaunt ravens soared staring over the wan plains , hairy tarantulas now and then hopped from the path of the ponies , and the `` side-winder '' -- the deadly horned rattlesnake , which gets its name from its peculiar side-long motion as it crawls across the burning sands -- squirmed out of the way , following snorts of fear from the ponies . They halted at noon , for a rest and a light luncheon , near one of the barren buttes . Grace asked if it would not be possible to find a resting place on the butte where they might shade under a rock . Hi Lang shook his head . `` Too many snakes up there , '' he replied .