about noon
It would have been a painful journey , at all events ; but when we expected to be tortured and put to death at the end of it , I found it doubly grievous to be endured . I longed for a dagger , and that I might find my arms free , to fight my way out from among them . At last I thought that it would be the best way to appear totally unconcerned when they hurt me , so that I became no longer a subject for their merriment . At length , about noon , we stopped to rest ; and most of our guards , after eating their meal of plantains , went to sleep . I thought that it would be a good opportunity to try and get near the captain , to learn if he thought that there was any chance of our escaping . Some few of the Maroons , with arms in their hands , sat up watching us narrowly ; I therefore put on as unconcerned a manner as possible , and lay down on the ground , pretending to go to sleep likewise . I in return watched our guards , and one by one I saw sleep exerting its influence over them .