about three o'clock in the
afternoon
After breakfast they recommenced with renewed vigour , taking a new line ; that is to say , directing their attention to clothes that might be supposed to have come in contact with the tubs in their removal from the shore , such garments being usually tainted with the spirit , owing to its oozing between the staves . They now sniffed at - Smock-frocks Smiths ' and shoemakers ' aprons Old shirts and waistcoats Knee-naps and hedging-gloves Coats and hats Tarpaulins Breeches and leggings Market-cloaks Women 's shawls and gowns Scarecrows And as soon as the mid-day meal was over , they pushed their search into places where the spirits might have been thrown away in alarm : - Horse-ponds Mixens Sinks in yards Stable-drains Wet ditches Road-scrapings , and Cinder-heaps Cesspools Back-door gutters . But still these indefatigable excisemen discovered nothing more than the original tell-tale smell in the road opposite Lizzy 's house , which even yet had not passed off . ` I 'll tell ye what it is , men , ' said Latimer , about three o'clock in the afternoon , ` we must begin over again . Find them tubs I will . ' The men , who had been hired for the day , looked at their hands and knees , muddy with creeping on all fours so frequently , and rubbed their noses , as if they had almost had enough of it ; for the quantity of bad air which had passed into each one 's nostril had rendered it nearly as insensible as a flue . However , after a moment 's hesitation , they prepared to start anew , except three , whose power of smell had quite succumbed under the excessive wear and tear of the day .