nine in the morning
Rupert , as soon as he was able to get about , had a long conversation with Major Kitchener , the political officer who was in charge of all communications with the natives . He related to him the circumstances of his brother 's capture , and how he was a prisoner of some men belonging to the Jahrin tribe . Major Kitchener promised that his spies should make every inquiry , and held out hopes that by the offer of a large reward his captors might be induced to bring him down to the camp . The time passed very slowly , the heat increased in intensity and became intolerable from nine in the morning until five in the afternoon . Between those hours there was nothing to do but to lie still in the mud huts that had now been erected , for it would have been well-nigh impossible to exist in the little tents that the troops had brought with them . In the early morning and in the evening every one bathed in the Nile . Then the officers , each of whom had picked up some sort of pony from the natives , went for a ride , chased the wild dogs , or wandered gun on shoulder in search of such game as was to be found .