noon
Walking along the sands , and keeping , as before , close to the curving line of water thrown up by the surf , he said to himself : `` I must have my eyes and ears open , but I am not going to be nervous or fidgety . I came here to be a pack-mule , and I intend to be a pack-mule until something stops me , and if that something is one man , he can look out for himself . '' The bags were heavy and their contents were rough and galling to the shoulders , but the captain was strong and his muscles were tough , and as he walked he planned a pair of cushions which he would wear under his golden epaulets in his future marches . When the captain had covered the two miles of beach and climbed the two rocky ridges , and reached his tent , it was long after noon , and throwing his two bags on the ground and covering them with a blanket , he proceeded to prepare his dinner . He laid out a complete working-plan , and one of the rules he had made was that , if possible , nothing should interfere with his regular meals and hours of sleep . The work he had set for himself was arduous in the extreme , and calculated to tax his energies to the utmost , and he must take very good care of his health and strength . In thinking over the matter , he had feared that the greed of gold might possess him , and that , in his anxiety to carry away as much as he could , he might break down , and everything be lost .