brighter, fresher and more sparkling than ever.  He could not control his fancy, but will ruled the body and he did not stir from his place for hours.  The sun beat fiercely upon him and the thin bushes and shrubs afforded little protection.  Toward the northern edge of the pyramid a small palm was growing out of a large crevice in the masonry, and it might have given some shade, but it was in such an exposed position that Ned did not dare to use it for fear of discovery.

How he hated that sun!  It seemed to be drying him up, through and through, causing the very blood in his veins to evaporate.  Why should such hot days follow such cold nights?  When his tongue touched the roof of his mouth it felt rough and hot like a coal.  Perhaps the Mexicans had gone away.  It seemed to him that he had not heard any sounds from them for some time.  He went to the edge of the pyramid and looked over.  No, the Mexicans were yet there, and the sight of them filled him with a fierce anger.  They were enjoying themselves.  Tents were scattered about and shelters of boughs had been erected.  Many soldiers were taking their siestas.  Nobody was working and there was not the slightest sign that they intended to depart that day.  Ned’s hot tongue clove to the roof of his hot mouth, but he obstinately refused to look at the river.  He did not think that he could stand another sight of it.

He went back to his little lair among the shrubs and prayed for night, blessed night with its cooling touch.  He had a horrible apprehension which amounted to conviction that the troops would stay there for several days, awaiting some maneuver or perhaps making it a rallying point, and that in his hiding place on the pyramid he was in as bad case as a sailor cast on a desert island without water.  Nothing seemed left for him but to steal down and try to escape in darkness.  Thus night would be doubly welcome and he prayed for it again and with renewed fervor.

Some hours are ten times as long as others, but the longest of all come to an end at last.  The sun began to droop in the west.  The vertical glare was gone, yet the masonry where it was bare was yet hot to the touch.  It, too, cooled soon.  The sun dropped wholly down and darkness came over all the earth.  Then the fever in Ned’s throat died down somewhat, and the blood began to flow again in his veins.  It seemed as if a dew touched his face, delicious, soothing like drops of rain in the burning desert.

He rose and stretched his stiffened limbs.  Overhead spread the dark, cool sky, and the bright stars were coming out, one by one.  After the first few moments of relief he heard the cry for water again.  Despite the night and the coming chill he knew that it would make itself heard often and often, and he began to study the possibilities of a descent.  But he saw the fires spread out again on all sides of the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon and flame thickly along the Calle de los Muertos.  It did not seem that he could pass even on the blackest night.