noon
Old Leisure was quite a different personage . He only read one newspaper , innocent of leaders , and was free from that periodicity of sensations which we call post-time . He was a contemplative , rather stout gentleman , of excellent digestion ; of quiet perceptions , undiseased by hypothesis ; happy in his inability to know the causes of things , preferring the things themselves . He lived chiefly in the country , among pleasant seats and homesteads , and was fond of sauntering by the fruit-tree wall and scenting the apricots when they were warmed by the morning sunshine , or of sheltering himself under the orchard boughs at noon , when the summer pears were falling . He knew nothing of weekday services , and thought none the worse of the Sunday sermon if it allowed him to sleep from the text to the blessing ; liking the afternoon service best , because the prayers were the shortest , and not ashamed to say so ; for he had an easy , jolly conscience , broad-backed like himself , and able to carry a great deal of beer or port-wine , not being made squeamish by doubts and qualms and lofty aspirations . Life was not a task to him , but a sinecure . He fingered the guineas in his pocket , and ate his dinners , and slept the sleep of the irresponsible , for had he not kept up his character by going to church on the Sunday afternoons ?