The cool recesses of the pyramid's interior did not engender thirst like its blazing summit.

Then he ate, but whether breakfast, dinner or supper he did not know, nor did he care.
He was tempted to go up to the entrance of the stairway and see what was going forward in the camp, but he resisted the impulse.

For the sake of caution he triumphed over curiosity, and remained a long time on the steps, beside the niche in which his lamp sat.

Then he began to calculate how much longer the oil would last, and he placed the time at about thirty hours.

Surely some decisive event would happen in his favor before the last drop was burned.
After an interminable time the air on the stairway seemed to him to be growing colder, and he inferred that night had come.