noon
The holocaust of the morning filled him with bitter regret . As for his feet , they felt shapeless and huge and fungus-like and full of burning needles . Oh , for the sandals of power of Fergus Mac Roigh ! At noon in utter desperation he bought a mule . The mule brayed temptation at him from the fence of a forest shanty . A negress stood in the doorway . Kenny , in no mood for haggling , recklessly offered what he thought the mule was worth .