about noon
Much of his long and painful tension had relaxed . The hum of distant artillery was in his ears as ever , like a moaning of the wind , but he was growing so used to it that he would now have noticed its absence rather than its presence . So he ate his share of bread and sausage with a good appetite , meanwhile keeping a watchful eye upon the heavens which burned in the same brilliant blue . It was now about noon . The rain the night before had given fresh tints to the green of grass and foliage . The whole earth , indifferent to the puny millions that struggled on its vast bosom , seemed refreshed and revitalized . A modest little bird in brown plumage perched on a bough near them , and , indifferent too , to war , poured forth a brilliant volume of song .