noon
But their owner suddenly sprang from a ditch near by , and he barely escaped his pursuit . He had wandered along during a part of the night , and then rested beside a well on the roadside , for he knew that wild beasts shun such frequented places . After sunrise he continued his march , following the road taken by the army . Everywhere he found traces of it , and when , shortly before noon , exhausted and faint from hunger , he reached a village in the cornlands watered by the Seti-canal , he debated whether to sell his gold armlet , obtain more strengthening food , and receive some silver and copper in change . But he was afraid of being taken for a thief and again imprisoned , for his apron had been tattered by the thorns , and his sandals had long since dropped from his feet . He had believed that even the hardest hearts could not fail to pity his misery so , hard as it was for him , he had knocked at a peasant 's door and begged . But the man gave him nothing save the jeering counsel that a strong young fellow like him ought to use his arms and leave begging to the old and weak .