noon
In a fragmentary way Big Pete told me this story and other interesting tales of this wild western country , but mostly our conversation turned to this old man of the mountains who was such a mystery to everyone , even to Big Pete , but who , despite the lugubrious reputation , had proved a kindly gentleman and a good friend to me . There were no visible signs of a change in the weather which had been clear for weeks , and the sky was otherwise clear blue save where the white mares ' tails swept across the heavens . But when we sat down to supper that evening I could hear the rumbling of distant thunder . I knew it was thunder for , although the fall of avalanches makes the same noise , avalanches choose the noon time to fall when the sun is hottest and the snows softest . Soon I could see the heads of some dark clouds peering at us over the mountains and before dark the clouds crept over the mountain tops and overcast our sky . It rained all that night in a fitful manner and came to a stop about four A. M . The wind went down and the air seemed to have lost its vivacity and life ; it was a dead atmosphere ; we arose from our blankets feeling tired and listless .