twelve o'clock
I worked hard , as indeed we all did , the whole morning . The toil is very severe , the constant stooping pressing , of course , upon the spinal column , whilst the constant immersion of the hands in water causes the skin to excoriate and become exceedingly painful . But these inconveniences are slight when compared to the great gain by which one is recompensed for them . At twelve o'clock , our usual primitive dinner hour , we met at the tents , tolerably well tired with our exertions . No dinner , however , was prepared , both José and Horry being still absent in pursuit of the strayed horses . We had , therefore , to resort to some of our jerked beef , which , with biscuits and coffee , formed our fare . After dinner , we determined to rest until the next day .