noon
Here an old man , yonder a younger one , sank prostrate under its scorching blaze or , supported by his friends , staggered on raving with his hand pressed to his brow like a drunken man . The blistered skin peeled from the hands and faces of men and women , and there was not one whose palate and tongue were not parched by the heat , or whose vigorous strength and newly-awakened courage it did not impair . The cattle moved forward with drooping heads and dragging feet or rolled on the ground till the shepherds ' lash compelled them to summon their failing powers . At noon the people were permitted to rest , but there was not a hand 's breadth of shade where they sought repose . Whoever lay down in the noonday heat found fresh tortures instead of relief . The sufferers themselves urged a fresh start for the spring at Alush . Hitherto each day , after the sun had begun its course toward the west through the cloudless sky of the desert , the heat had diminished , and ere the approach of twilight a fresher breeze had fanned the brow ; but to-day the rocks retained the glow of noonday for many hours , until a light cool breeze blew from sea at the west .