about two
o'clock
But who would have thought , meeting the youth as he walked the road with shoeless feet , that he sought the harbour of a great library in some old house , so as day after day to feast on the thoughts of men who had gone before him ! For his was no antiquarian soul ; it was a soul hungry after life , not after the mummy cloths enwrapping the dead . He was now walking southward , but would soon , when the mountains were well behind him , turn toward the east . He carried a small wallet , filled chiefly with oatcake and hard skim-milk cheese : about two o'clock he sat down on a stone , and proceeded to make a meal . A brook from the hills ran near : for that he had chosen the spot , his fare being dry . He seldom took any other drink than water : he had learned that strong drink at best but discounted to him his own at a high rate . He drew from his pocket a small thick volume he had brought as the companion of his journey , and read as he ate .