eleven until three
The turf was taken off , the soil was dug up , and the peons drove the bullocks round and round upon it , trampling it into a thick mud , some water being thrown in when necessary . As it was sufficiently trampled , Terence carried it in a trough and emptied it on to the table close by , where Hans and Seth fashioned it in the moulds , turning the bricks out on to a plank a foot wide and six feet long . When this was full , the boys took each an end and carried it off to the prepared ground , where they carefully removed the bricks with two little slabs of wood , and placed them on the ground to dry , returning with the empty plank to find another one filled for them . It was hard work for all , and from eleven until three the heat was too great to allow them to work at it ; but they began with daylight , and taking a nap during the heat of the day , were ready to work on again as long as it was light . The bricks were , of course , to be dried by the sun , as fuel was too scarce for them to think of burning them ; but this was of little consequence , especially as they were to be used indoors , the heat of the sun being quite sufficient to make very fair bricks without the use of fire . By the afternoon of the fifth day they had made a quantity of bricks which would , they calculated , be ample for the construction of the partition walls of their house . The boys had just deposited the last brick upon the drying ground , and were moving away , when Hubert cried , ` Stop , Charley , do n't move a step . '