midday
Helen was appealed to . She was made to look at a brooch , and then at a pair of ear-rings . But all the time she blamed them for having come on this expedition , for having ventured too far and exposed themselves . Then she roused herself and tried to talk , but in a few moments she caught herself seeing a picture of a boat upset on the river in England , at midday . It was morbid , she knew , to imagine such things ; nevertheless she sought out the figures of the others between the trees , and whenever she saw them she kept her eyes fixed on them , so that she might be able to protect them from disaster . But when the sun went down and the steamer turned and began to steam back towards civilisation , again her fears were calmed . In the semi-darkness the chairs on deck and the people sitting in them were angular shapes , the mouth being indicated by a tiny burning spot , and the arm by the same spot moving up or down as the cigar or cigarette was lifted to and from the lips .