noon
I was so heartily tired and weary of all my miserable life that I did not find it worth the trouble of fighting any longer to preserve it . Adversity had gained the upper hand ; it had been too strong for me . I had become so strangely poverty-stricken and broken , a mere shadow of what I once had been ; my shoulders were sunken right down on one side , and I had contracted a habit of stooping forward fearfully as I walked , in order to spare my chest what little I could . I had examined my body a few days ago , one noon up in my room , and I had stood and cried over it the whole time . I had worn the same shirt for many weeks , and it was quite stiff with stale sweat , and had chafed my skin . A little blood and water ran out of the sore place ; it did not hurt much , but it was very tiresome to have this tender place in the middle of my stomach . I had no remedy for it , and it would n't heal of its own accord .