four in the afternoon
Claude , who delighted in feats of strength and dexterity , would stand for hours watching the flight of these masses of osier , and would burst into a hearty laugh whenever too vigorous a toss sent them flying over the pile into the roadway beyond . He was fond , too , of the footways of the Rue Rambuteau and the Rue du Pont Neuf , near the fruit market , where the retail dealers congregated . The sight of the vegetables displayed in the open air , on trestle-tables covered with damp black rags , was full of charm for him . At four in the afternoon the whole of this nook of greenery was aglow with sunshine ; and Claude wandered between the stalls , inspecting the bright-coloured heads of the saleswomen with keen artistic relish . The younger ones , with their hair in nets , had already lost all freshness of complexion through the rough life they led ; while the older ones were bent and shrivelled , with wrinkled , flaring faces showing under the yellow kerchiefs bound round their heads . Cadine and Marjolin refused to accompany him hither , as they could perceive old Mother Chantemesse shaking her fist at them , in her anger at seeing them prowling about together . He joined them again , however , on the opposite footway , where he found a splendid subject for a picture in the stallkeepers squatting under their huge umbrellas of faded red , blue , and violet , which , mounted upon poles , filled the whole market-side with bumps , and showed conspicuously against the fiery glow of the sinking sun , whose rays faded amidst the carrots and the turnips .