midnight
These people apparently meant me no ill , and had no time to spare on me , But the sensation of moving through them was like walking on a black-dark night with precipices all around . I felt odd quiverings between my shoulder blades where a spear might be expected to lodge . Overhead was a great blue sky and a blazing sun , and I could see the path running clear before me between the walls of scrub . But it was like midnight to me , a midnight of suspicion and unknown perils . I began to wish heartily I had never come . I stopped for my midday meal at a place called Taqui , a grassy glade in the bush where a tiny spring of water crept out from below a big stone , only to disappear in the sand . Here I sat and smoked for half an hour , wondering what was going to become of me .