noon
People were marching to the feast from a much greater distance away than this can be . '' Their progress was slow , for the day was one of scorching heat . The naked Panthays slipped through the jungle as easily as the monkeys skipped through the trees , but Jack could not move at any speed . As the sun approached high noon a halt was called in shade of a thicket on a little ridge , where the air was fresher than in the dark , steaming hollows . Here they stayed for three hours , and Jack , after he had eaten the meal the Panthays prepared , dozed in the shade . When he saw his guides gathering their baggage and packing it into the big basket which one carried slung over his shoulders , Jack sprang to his feet , stretched himself , and strolled forward half a dozen yards . They had halted beside a narrow path which crossed the ridge , and he wished to see toward what kind of country below the path led .