Twelve o'clock
The clouds were high above the treetops , though the sun yet shone . At a little distance Selim was quietly grazing , the birds had returned to their song , the squirrels to their play along the leafy boughs . Rand looked at his watch . `` Twelve o'clock -- twelve o'clock . '' Suddenly a thought struck him . `` The pistol , with my name engraved on it -- '' He had flung the weapon far into the water . The stream was hardly more than a wide brook , but its bed was broken , and above and below the little ford the water fell over ledges into small , deep pools .