midnight
Meeus , frightened now by the pity in the face of the other , horribly frightened by the unknown thing that had happened to him , making him dead from the waist down , moved his lips , but made no sound . `` Your back is broken , '' replied Adams to the question in the other 's eyes . Then he turned to Berselius . * * * * * At midnight the rains broke with a crash of thunder that seemed to shake the universe . Adams , worn out , was seated at the table in the living room smoking some tobacco he had found in a tin on the shelf , and listening to the rambling of Berselius , when the thunder-clap came , making the lamp shiver on the table . Meeus , who had been silent since his death sentence had been read to him , cried out at the thunder , but Berselius did not heed -- he was hunting elephants under a burning sun in a country even vaster than the elephant country . Adams rose up and came to the door ; not a drop of rain had fallen yet .