two in
the afternoon
It was a hard , hot climb . The sun blazed dazzlingly on the ice-surface , and with streaming pores they panted from the exertion . There were places , criss-crossed by countless fissures and crevasses , where an hour of dangerous toil advanced them no more than a hundred yards . At two in the afternoon , beside a pool of water bedded in the ice , Smoke called a halt . `` Let 's tackle some of that jerky , '' he said . `` I 've been on short allowance , and my knees are shaking . Besides , we 're across the worst .