Three hours after noon
It seemed almost impossible that , with so much time before them , they could not find a break in the cliffs towards safe ground , yet the cliffs seemed to stretch endlessly before them and their pace was slow , not more than three miles an hour . They rested sometimes for a moment watching the out-going sea and the gulls ; unused to exercise the girl was tired , and the man knew it . Alone he could have travelled swiftly and without resting , but he said nothing , and though he knew the necessity of speed , it was he who made the halts for the sake of his companion . Three hours after noon he took some food out of the bundle and made her eat . They had already drunk from a little torrent rushing out of a crack in the cliff wall , but even so the food seemed dry and she could scarcely swallow it . Anxiety had her in its grip , the cliffs stretching on and on interminably seemed like misfortune itself made visible . Said Raft : `` The tide 's near the turn and them cliffs do n't shew no sign of a cut in them , but then there 's only two miles or so to be seen from here .