noon
And how I miss my after-breakfast cigar and the _ Times _ , as I put my hands upon a fellow-convict 's shoulder and march in slow procession to my task . The work of breaking a large piece of stone into smaller bits with a hammer is not an intellectual one ; but it has got me into tolerable training ; I have lost twenty pounds already , and am , as we used to say at the university , as ` hard as nails . ' I am afraid that my old trousers , which my tailor used to let out year by year , would be a world too large for my shrunk shanks now . I dine at noon , as you remember , and for the first time in my life I do not dress for dinner ; indeed , a white cravat and a dress coat would be inappropriate , when one sits down to bean porridge and boiled beef served in the same tin plate . But I have a good appetite after my pulverizing of the morning , and I am not compelled to set the table in a roar under duress . I am surprised what good things I think of now that I am not expected to and have no one to whom to say them . Jawkins would double my salary could he get me out .