noon
Medius ' temper varied as he came and went ; now he was gentle and affectionate , and then again he raged like a madman ; and his wife outdid him . At one moment she would abandon him and the children , while she anointed the household altar and put up prayers ; at the next she railed at the baseness and cruelty of the gods . When her husband brought the news that the Serapeum was surrounded by the Imperial troops , she scoffed and spit at the sacred images , and five minutes later she was vowing a sacrifice to the deities of Olympus . The general confusion was distracting ; as the sun rose , the anguish , physical and mental , of the whole family greatly increased , and by noon had reached an appalling pitch . Dada looked on intensely disgusted , and only shook her head when one or another of her companions was sure she felt a shock of earthquake or heard the roll of distant thunder . She could not explain to herself why she , who was usually timid enough , was exempt from the universal panic though she felt deeply pitiful towards the terrified women and children . None of them troubled themselves about her ; the day dragged on with intolerable slowness , quenching all her gay vivacity , while she was utterly exhausted by the scorching African sun , of which , till now , she had never known the power .