noon
By midday it began to rain , lightly at first , and from his rock he could see the people , looking unnatural and distorted in that strange gloom , for the clouds had descended almost to the earth , rushing about , holding out their hands as though to clasp the blessed moisture and talking excitedly one to the other . Soon they were driven into their huts , for the rain turned into a kind of waterspout . Never had such rain been known in Sisa-Land . All that afternoon it poured , and all the night with ever-increasing violence ; yes , and all the following morning , so that by noon Thomas 's rain-gauge showed that over twelve inches had fallen in about twenty-four hours , and it was still raining . Water rushed down from the koppie ; even their well-built house could not keep out the wet , and , to the despair of Dorcas , several of the rooms were flooded and some of the new furniture was spoiled . The river beneath had become a raging torrent , and was rising every hour . Already it was over its banks , and the water had got into the huts of the Chief 's kraal and the village round it , so that their occupants were obliged to seek safety upon the lower rocks of the koppie , where they sat shivering in the wet .