three o'clock
He saw that both the Lark and Ben said very few words , that when they did speak they barked out short , explosive commands surcharged with profanity , that when they interfered there was a good reason for it , that their commands were obeyed without hesitation and without question . Not once in two hours did either of them so much as look toward him . And the long processions of men and horses came and went , scooped and dumped their big scraper-loads , and swung back into the ditch , each man of them moving like a machine . It was after three o'clock when he noticed something which he would have seen before had he been used to the work and the men . He saw the long string of scrapers come to a halt for perhaps two minutes ; saw that the cause of the halt was a big Northlander who had stopped just as he came upon the bank and was working over at race-chain which seemed to be causing trouble . In a moment he started up again , the other scrapers began to move , and Conniston dismissed the matter as of no consequence . This was the gang over which Ben was foreman .