two
o'clock in the afternoon
The blank , unmeaning stare of its lidless and browless eyes is uncanny . Sometimes a man steps out of the nose , turns , passes the place where the right ear should be and making his way through the throng of children and goats obstructing the narrow walk between his neighbors ' doors and the edge of the terrace gains the street by descending a flight of rickety stairs . Here he pauses to consult his watch and the stranger who happens to pass wonders why such a man as that can care what is the hour . Longer observations would show that the time of day is an important element in the man 's movements , for it is at precisely two o'clock in the afternoon that he comes forth 365 times in every year . Having satisfied himself that he has made no mistake in the hour he replaces the watch and walks rapidly southward up the street two squares , turns to the right and as he approaches the next corner fixes his eyes on an upper window in a three-story building across the way . This is a somewhat dingy structure , originally of red brick and now gray . It shows the touch of age and dust .