noon
` Twill ease the cursed hunger pain that gnaws like a rat . '' They munched the pittance of salty food which made the thirst the harder to endure , and then watched the sun climb hot and dazzling . It was futile to hoist the sail and so they pulled the canvas over them as the heat became more intense . By noon , Jack was begging for water to lave his tongue but Joe Hawkridge laughed him to scorn and swore to hit him with an oar unless he changed his tune . Never in his life had Jack known the lack of food or drink and he therefore suffered cruelly . Worse than this privation was the increasing roughness of the sea . It was a blithesome wind , rollicking across a sparkling carpet of blue , with the little white clouds in flocks above , like lambs at play .