midday
The doctor saw it was useless . `` I beg your pardon again , '' he said , resignedly , and left the unapproachable stranger to himself . Mr. Neal walked to the window , and stood there , with his eyes mechanically fixed on the prospect , composing his mind for the coming interview . It was midday ; the sun shone bright and warm ; and all the little world of Wildbad was alive and merry in the genial springtime . Now and again heavy wagons , with black-faced carters in charge , rolled by the window , bearing their precious lading of charcoal from the forest . Now and again , hurled over the headlong current of the stream that runs through the town , great lengths of timber , loosely strung together in interminable series -- with the booted raftsmen , pole in hand , poised watchful at either end -- shot swift and serpent-like past the houses on their course to the distant Rhine . High and steep above the gabled wooden buildings on the river-bank , the great hillsides , crested black with firs , shone to the shining heavens in a glory of lustrous green .