three o’clock
At each decision communicated to them by the secretaries , they sorted the pictures , the accepted paintings being separated from the rejected ones , which were carried off like corpses after a battle . And the round lasted during two long hours , without a moment 's respite , and without there being a single chair to sit upon . The committee-men had to remain on their legs , tramping on in a tired way amid icy draughts , which compelled even the least chilly among them to bury their noses in the depths of their fur-lined overcoats . Then the three o'clock snack proved very welcome : there was half an hour 's rest at a buffet , where claret , chocolate , and sandwiches could be obtained . It was there that the market of mutual concessions was held , that the bartering of influence and votes was carried on . In order that nobody might be forgotten amid the hailstorm of applications which fell upon the committee-men , most of them carried little note-books , which they consulted ; and they promised to vote for certain exhibitors whom a colleague protected on condition that this colleague voted for the ones in whom they were interested . Others , however , taking no part in these intrigues , either from austerity or indifference , finished the interval in smoking a cigarette and gazing vacantly about them .