nine o'clock
He pushed his way good-naturedly through the throng of Moros who were handling the bales and boxes unloaded from the roach-ridden hull and walked off the pier , disappearing into the government building . Terry boarded the vessel , warmed by the friendliness of his new chief , and by the time the orderly arrived had thrown a few things into his bag and was ready to go ashore . He followed the soldier down the main street , a dusty thoroughfare lined with the usual assortment of structures which adorn Philippine provincial towns : adobe , tile-roofed business houses honeycombed with little box-like shops in which the Chinese merchants displayed their wares : square wooden houses set high on stone understructures : scores of bamboo shacks stilted on crooked timbers , unkempt , wry , powdered with the dust risen since the last rains . Though it was not yet nine o'clock , they sought the shaded side of the street with the habit which becomes instinctive near the equator , and welcomed the coolness of Bronner 's low house . The cook and the houseboy looked after him with the unobtrusive perfection of service found only in the East . A good breakfast cheered a stomach outraged by the greasy mess perpetrated upon native boats in the name of Spanish cookery , and a cool shower bath eliminated the stench of stale copra which had clung to his nostrils if not to his clothing . An hour before noon he left the house and strolled about the scorching town , regardless of where he went so long as he found shaded walks on which to tread .