eight o’clock in the
morning
Such is Bastin 's lesson , which I have striven to learn . '' Then she flung her arms about me and kissed me on the brow as a mother might , and was gone . Strangely enough , perhaps because of my mental exhaustion , for what I had passed through seemed to overwhelm me so that I could no longer so much as think with clearness , even after all that I have described I slept like a child and awoke refreshed and well . I looked at my watch to find that it was now eight o'clock in the morning in this horrible place where there was neither morn , nor noon , nor night , but only an eternal brightness that came I knew not whence , and never learned . I found that I was alone , since Bickley and Bastin had gone to fill our bottles with the Life-water . Presently they returned and we ate a little ; with that water to drink one did not need much food . It was a somewhat silent meal , for our circumstances were a check on talk ; moreover , I thought that the others looked at me rather oddly .