noon
There was a fog outdoors , saturated with a fine powder of soot , and though Bibbs noticed absently the dim shape of an automobile at the curb before Roscoe 's house , he did not recognize it as Dr. Gurney 's , but went cheerily on his way through the dingy mist . And when he was once more installed beside his faithful zinc-eater he whistled and sang to it , as other workmen did to their own machines sometimes , when things went well . His comrades in the shop glanced at him amusedly now and then . They liked him , and he ate his lunch at noon with a group of Socialists who approved of his ideas and talked of electing him to their association . The short days of the year had come , and it was dark before the whistles blew . When the signal came , Bibbs went to the office , where he divested himself of his overalls -- his single divergence from the routine of his fellow-workmen -- and after that he used soap and water copiously . This was his transformation scene : he passed into the office a rather frail young working-man noticeably begrimed , and passed out of it to the pavement a cheerfully pre-occupied sample of gentry , fastidious to the point of elegance .