about noon
`` Yes , massa , '' murmured Ebony , with solemn looks , `` if dere was on ' y a few wegibles -- cooked ! Flowers is all bery well to look at , but we ca n't heat him . '' `` Well , if we ca n't eat , we can , at all events , sleep , '' returned Mark . `` I believe it is usually thought wise in tropical countries to cease work and rest about noon , so , as I feel rather tired , I 'll have a snooze . What say you ? '' No objection being made , the party again climbed into the branches of a low spreading tree , in order to avoid snakes , scorpions , or any other noxious creatures , though they knew not at the time whether such existed on the island . In less than five minutes they were sound asleep .