noon
The voyage along the coast , and up a river into which they finally turned , occupied several days . At first , on starting , Aileen and her companions had looked with tender pity on the captives as they toiled at the heavy oars , but this deepened into earnest solicitude as they saw them , after hours of toil , gasping for want of water and apparently faint from want of food . Next day , although they had lain down in the bottom of the boat supperless , the rest had refreshed most of them , and they pulled on with some degree of vigour . But noon came , and with it culminated the heat of a burning sun . Still no water was served out , no food distributed . Mr Hazlit and his party had biscuit and water given them in the morning and at noon . During the latter meal Aileen observed the native policeman regarding her food with such eager wolfish eyes that under an impulse of uncontrollable feeling she held out her can of water to him .