morning, noon
He felt a curiosity , also , to see whether the fire and brimstone would not rush down from Heaven at once , now that the one righteous man had provided for his own safety . But , as the sunshine continued to fall peacefully on the cottages and fields , and the husbandmen labored and children played , and as there were many tokens of present happiness , and nothing ominous of a speedy judgment , he turned away , somewhat disappointed . The farther he went , however , and the lonelier he felt himself , and the thicker the trees stood along his path , and the darker the shadow overhead , so much the more did Richard Digby exult . He talked to himself , as he strode onward ; he read his Bible to himself , as he sat beneath the trees ; and , as the gloom of the forest hid the blessed sky , I had almost added , that , at morning , noon , and eventide , he prayed to himself . So congenial was this mode of life to his disposition , that he often laughed to himself , but was displeased when an echo tossed him back the long loud roar . In this manner , he journeyed onward three days and two nights , and came , on the third evening , to the mouth of a cave , which , at first sight , reminded him of Elijah 's cave at Horeb , though perhaps it more resembled Abraham 's sepulchral cave at Machpelah . It entered into the heart of a rocky hill .