noon
I 've done this for years . '' But even with abnormal strength and endurance , it was killing work to buck those ragged slopes with a heavy load . Only by terrible , unremitting effort could he advance any appreciable distance . From daybreak till noon they would climb and rest alternately . Then , after a meal and a short breathing spell , he would go back alone after the second load . They were footsore , and their bodies ached with weariness that verged on pain when they gained the pass that cut the summit of the Klappan Range . `` Well , we 're over the hump , '' Bill remarked thankfully .