midday
Were they guilty of a sin ? Nevertheless , for many days thereafter , though they knew it was a fault , in this vague and dumb and feeble fashion they communicated constantly . On going to bed they rapped `` Good-night '' : on rising for the day they rapped `` Good-morning . '' They rapped when the bell rang for midday service , and again when the singing came up through the courtyard . And sometimes they rapped from sympathy and sometimes from pity , and sometimes from mere human loneliness and the love of company . Thus did these exiles from life , struggling to live under the eye of God in obedience to their earthly vow , try to cheer their crushed and fettered souls , and to comfort each other like imprisoned children . `` The Priory , St. John 's Wood , London .