noon
He was still a captive , even though of the tribesmen and not the unearthly strangers . Perhaps to the ship people these primitives were hardly higher in scale than the forest animals . Ross did not try to talk to his present guard , who towed him into the western sun of late afternoon . They halted at last in that same small grove where they had rested at noon . The tribesman fastened the mounts and then walked around to inspect the animal Ross had ridden . With a grunt he loosened the prisoner and spilled him unceremoniously on the ground while he examined the horse . Ross levered himself up to sight the mark of the burn across that roan hide where the fire had blistered the skin .