noon
There was no green anywhere , only unlovely rows of houses , now gasping with open doors and windows for air . Air ! That was what everything clamoured for , the very stones , the dogs , the shops , the dwellings , the people . If it was like this soon after ten , what would it be at noon ? Already the smaller children were beginning to weary of play . In narrow courts they lolled along on the flags , exhausted . In wider streets , they sat quietly on door-steps or the kerb , or announced their discomfort in peevish wailings .