noon
He was still vaguely troubled when he made his way back past the power-house , in a sliding , scrambling descent , his boots starting tiny avalanches of shale and loose rock to go clattering down the mountainside . The new men were proving competent under the direction of a boss pipeman who had been made foreman , and Dick trudged away toward the mine , feeling that one part of the work , at least , would be speedily accomplished . Bill was still striding backward and forward , but devoting most of his attention to cleaning up the mill , and declared , with a wry smile , that he never felt better in his life , but never liked talking less . When the noon whistle shrieked its high , staccato note from the engine-house , they went up to the mess , and seated themselves at the head of the table . As a whole , the men were fairly satisfactory . Bill stared coldly down the table , and appeared to be mentally tabulating those who would draw but one pay-check , and that when their `` time '' was given them , but Dick 's mind persisted in wandering afield to the chance encounter of the morning . The men had finished their hasty meal , in hasty miner 's fashion , silently , and tramped , with clumping feet , out of the mess-house to the shade of its northern side before Bill had ended his painful repast .