midnight
Through it all , the bearers fought on , though how they found their way Noie , who was watching them , could not guess , since no landmarks were left to guide them . They fought on , blinded , choked with the salt sand that drove into their eyes and lungs , till man after man , they fell down and perished . Others took their places , and yet they fought on . It must have been near to midnight when the company , or those who were left of them , staggered to the edge of that dreadful wilderness which was but a vast plain of stone and sand , bordered on the west as on the east by slopes of fertile soil . For a while the fierce tempest lifted a little , and the light of the stars which struggled through breaks in the clouds showed that they were marching down a steep descent of grassland . Thus they went on for several more hours , till at length the bearers of the litter in which were Rachel and Noie , who for a long time had been staggering to and fro like drunken men , came to a halt , and litter and all , sank to the ground , utterly exhausted . Rachel and Noie disentangled themselves from the litter , for they were unhurt , and stood by it , not knowing where to go , till presently two other litters containing the priests came up , for the third had been abandoned , and its occupant crowded in with Eddo .