noon
Peter was bare-headed too , for he had lost his cap , and almost beside himself now that the excitement had left him , from lack of sleep , pain , and weariness . Moreover , as the sun rose , it grew fearfully hot upon that plain , and its fierce rays , striking full upon his head , seemed to stupefy him , so that at last they were obliged to halt and weave a kind of hat out of corn and grasses , which gave him so strange an appearance that some Moors , whom they met going to their toil , thought that he must be a madman , and ran away . Still they crawled forward , refreshing themselves with water whenever they could find any in the irrigation ditches that these people used for their crops , but covering little more than a mile an hour . Towards noon the heat grew so dreadful that they were obliged to lie down to rest under the shade of some palm-like trees , and here , absolutely outworn , they sank into a kind of sleep . They were awakened by a sound of voices , and staggered to their feet , drawing their swords , for they thought that the thieves from the inn had overtaken them . Instead of these ruffianly murderers , however , they saw before them a body of eight Moors , beautifully mounted upon white horses , and clad in turbans and flowing robes , the like of which Peter had never yet beheld , who sat there regarding them gravely with their quiet eyes , and , as it seemed , not without pity . `` Put up your swords , Señors , '' said the leader of these Moors in excellent Spanish -- indeed , he seemed to be a Spaniard dressed in Eastern garments -- `` for we are many and fresh ; and you are but two and wounded . ''