noon
Then , moving very cautiously , they reached the thick willow bluff , where they were comparatively safe , and Harding , who found it hard to hold himself in hand , feared that he might grow limp with the reaction . Difficult as his task had looked , it had been successfully carried out . `` Get on , '' he said to Clarke and , walking faster , they plunged into the open waste . It was noon when Harding returned to camp , ragged and exhausted , with Clarke limping after him in an even more pitiable state . The latter had suffered badly from the hurried march , but his conductor would brook no delay and the grim hints he had been given encouraged him to the utmost exertion he was capable of . Blake was alive , but when Harding bent over him he feared that help had come too late . His skin looked harsh and dry , his face had grown hollow , and his thick strong hair had turned lank and was falling out .