midday
`` Our only chance is to keep her moving ; if once the wound stiffens , there 's an end . The sinew can not have been severed , or it would have come before now . '' So they pushed on . All that morning did they canter forward wherever the ground was smooth enough to allow them to do so , and notwithstanding the increasing lameness of Mr. Clifford 's mare , made such good progress that by midday they reached the place where they had passed the first night after leaving Bambatse . Here sheer fatigue and want of water forced them to stop a little while . They dismounted and drank greedily from the spring , after which they allowed the horses to drink also ; indeed it was impossible to keep them away from the water . Then they ate a little , not because they desired food , but to keep up their strength , and while they did so examined the mare .