noon
He thought the breathing spells were very short and a long way apart . Si 's knapsack had experienced the universal shrinkage , as told in a previous chapter of our hero 's martial career . He still had , however , a good many things that he thought he could n't spare , but which he found later he could very well get along without . By noon the 200th began to show signs of going to pieces . The column stretched out longer and longer , like a piece of India-rubber . The ranks looked thin and ragged . Lame and foot-sore , with wo-begone faces , their bodies aching in every bone and tendon , and overcome with a weariness that no one can realize unless he has `` been there , '' the men dropped out one by one and threw themselves into the fence-corners to rest .