noon
The work could only progress slowly , for there must be little sound of scraping or ringing of iron on the stone-like clay , and all dust from the working must be dispersed about the floor . Two watched at the window all the time . Interruptions were many and sometimes lengthy , and after three hours of broken labour the workers had only got some two inches back into the wall along the floor line . But noon and the death-like stillness of `` siesta '' gave them a better opportunity . A shaft that had been procured some days previously was fished out from its hiding-place , and fitted to the spearhead . Working in short shifts , by the space of an hour the floor line was worked through so that daylight was visible in one or two places , and the upright line in the angle of the wall was worked full depth back to a height of half a foot . In the late afternoon , after the visit of the jailer , a groove sufficiently deep to guide them in the darkness was made all round .