eleven o'clock
Old man Minick learned high-sounding phrases . `` The Masters ... democracy ... toil of the many for the good of the few ... the ruling class ... free speech ... the People ... '' The strong-minded ones held forth . The weaker ones drifted about on the outskirts , sometimes clinging to the moist and sticky paw of a round-eyed grandchild . Earlier in the day -- at eleven o'clock , say -- the talk was not so general nor so inclusive . The old men were likely to drift into groups of two or three or four . They sat on sun-bathed benches and their conversation was likely to be rather smutty at times , for all they looked so mild and patriarchal and desiccated . They paid scant heed to the white-haired old women who , like themselves , were sunning in the park .