midday
At meal time the dishes were returned to the tiny cabin almost untouched . The abbess and Rufinus tried to speak comfort to them ; but in the afternoon the superior herself was overpowered by the heat , and the air in the little cabin , to which she retired , was even less tolerable stuffy than on deck . Thus passed a long day of torment , the hottest that even the men could remember ; and they on the whole suffered least from it , though they toiled at the oar without ceasing and with wonderful endurance . At length evening fell after those fearful midday hours ; and as a cool breeze rose shortly before sunset to fan their moist brows , the hapless victims awoke to new energies . Their immediate torment had so crushed them that , incapable of anticipating the future , they had ceased either to fear or to hope ; but now they could rejoice in thinking of the start they had gained over their pursuers . They were hungry and enjoyed their evening meal ; the abbess made friends with the worthy ship-wright , and began an eager conversation with Rufinus as to Paula and Orion : Her wish that the young man should spend a time of probation did not at all please Rufinus ; with such a wife as Paula , he could not fail to be at all times the noble fellow which his old friend held him to be in spite of his having remained at home . The hump-backed gardener made the younger nuns merry with his jests , and after supper they all united in prayer .