noon
But the lust of gold consumed us , and presently we only sorrowed because we had no sumpter mules to aid its transit , and had a terror of the infernal plain and valley we had travelled ... '' `` Captain Bovill made camp in a mead outside the city , and one of us shot a deer , so that we supped full . He unfolded his purpose , which was that we should pack about our persons such jewels as were the smallest and most precious , and some gold likewise as an earnest , and by striking northward through the mountains seek to reach at a higher point in its course the river by which we had entered from the sea . I mistrusted the plan , for the chart had shown but the one way , but the terror of the road we had come was strong on me and I made no protest . So we packed our treasure , so that each man staggered under it , and before noon left the place of the kings . '' `` And then ? Was the road desperate ? '' Raleigh 's pale eyes had the ardour of a boy 's .