one hour before
noon
Hans , however , who arrived to help me put on my best clothes for the ceremony , was for once consoling . `` Do n't look sick , baas , '' he said , `` for if there is storm in the morning , there is shine at night . '' `` Yes , '' I answered , speaking more to myself than to him , `` but what will happen between the storm of the morning and the peace of the night ? '' It was arranged that the commission , which , counting the native after-riders , consisted of over a hundred people , among them several boys , who were little more than children , was to ride at one hour before noon . Nobody could get about to make the necessary preparations until the heavy rain had passed away , which it did a little after eight o'clock . Therefore when I left the wagon to eat , or try to eat some breakfast , I found the whole camp in a state of bustle . Boers were shouting to their servants , horses were being examined , women were packing the saddle-bags of their husbands and fathers with spare clothes , the pack-beasts were being laden with biltong and other provisions , and so forth .