quarter past twelve
Instead , it rose on a slant , so that by high noon it had barely lifted its lower rim clear of the horizon . It was a dim , wan sun . There was no heat to its rays , and a man could gaze squarely into the full orb of it without hurt to his eyes . No sooner had it reached meridian than it began its slant back beneath the horizon , and at quarter past twelve the earth threw its shadow again over the land . The men and dogs raced on . Daylight and Kama were both savages so far as their stomachs were concerned . They could eat irregularly in time and quantity , gorging hugely on occasion , and on occasion going long stretches without eating at all .