midday
He was promised , moreover , the job of hanging me as soon as my comrades returned . In this pleasant posture they left me , whether under surveillance or not I could not tell , being unable to turn my head , and scarce able even to move it an inch either way . So I lay and stared up at the sky , until the blazing sun outstared me . I will dwell on none of my torments but this , which toward midday became intolerable . Certainly I had either died or gone mad under it , but that my hands were free to shield me ; and these I turned in the blistering glare as a cook turns a steak on the gridiron . Now and again I dabbled them in the pannikin beside me , very carefully , ekeing out the short supply of water . I had neither resisted nor protested .