noon
However this may be , on the morning after the conversation at the Rising Sun which we have just noticed , the population having as usual gone to their work , having penetrated the pit and descended the shaft , the furnaces all blazing , the chimneys all smoking , -- suddenly there rose a rumour even in the bowels of the earth , that the hour and the man had at length arrived ; the hour that was to bring them relief and the man that was to bear them redress . `` My missus told it me at the pit-head when she brought me my breakfast , '' said a pikeman to his comrade , and he struck a vigorous blow at the broadseam on which he was working . `` It is not ten mile , '' said his companion . `` They 'll be here by noon . '' `` There is a good deal to do in their way , '' said the first pikeman . `` All men at work after notice to be ducked , they say , and every engine to be stopped forthwith . '' `` Will the police meet them before they reach this ? ''