midday
He put down his uneasiness to the restlessness of nerves that were ever on the alert , and determined to ignore it . But it pursued him , none the less ; and coupled with it was the voice that called to him perpetually , like the crying of a lost soul . They were drawing nearer to the mountains when one day the Arab lad , Ahmed , disappeared . It happened during the midday halt , when the rest of the party were drowsing . No one knew when he went or how , but he vanished as if a hand had plucked him off the face of the earth . It seemed unlikely that he would have wandered into the bush , but this was the only conclusion that they could come to ; and they spent the rest of the day in fruitless searching . Herne slept not at all that night .