noon
High on her scaffolding which looked sheer down into the empty , echoing church , with huge saints and evangelists staring at her from every side , and martyrs admiring each other 's beatitude , Catherine , who was already half inclined to think life unreal , fell into a dream within a dream , and wondered which was untrue . Esther 's anxiety about Catherine was for the time put at rest by the professor 's little maneuver , but she had some rather more serious cause for disquiet about herself , in regard to which she did not care to consult her cousin or any one else . Wharton and Strong were not the only men who undertook to enliven her path of professional labor . Every day at noon , the Reverend Stephen Hazard visited his church to see how Wharton was coming forward , and this clerical duty was not neglected after Esther joined the work-people . Much as Mr. Hazard had to do , and few men in New York were busier , he never forgot to look in for a moment on the artists , and Esther could not help noticing that this moment tended to lengthen . He had a way of joining Wharton and Catherine on their tour of inspection , and then bringing Catherine back to Esther 's work-place , and sitting down for an instant to rest and look at the St. Cecilia . Time passed rapidly , and once or twice it had come over Esther 's mind that , for a very busy man , Mr. Hazard seemed to waste a great deal of time .