noon
But newest of all was the feeling within him -- a sort of pride , a sense of importance , a queer exhilaration at being alone with her , chosen companion of one so beautiful . They passed all the other pilgrims bound the same way -- stout square Germans with their coats slung through straps , who trailed behind them heavy alpenstocks , carried greenish bags , and marched stolidly at a pace that never varied , growling , as Anna and the boy went by : `` Aber eilen ist nichts ! '' But those two could not go fast enough to keep pace with their spirits . This was no real climb -- just a training walk to the top of the Nuvolau ; and they were up before noon , and soon again descending , very hungry . When they entered the little dining-room of the Cinque Torre Hutte , they found it occupied by a party of English people , eating omelettes , who looked at Anna with faint signs of recognition , but did not cease talking in voices that all had a certain half-languid precision , a slight but brisk pinching of sounds , as if determined not to tolerate a drawl , and yet to have one . Most of them had field-glasses slung round them , and cameras were dotted here and there about the room . Their faces were not really much alike , but they all had a peculiar drooping smile , and a particular lift of the eyebrows , that made them seem reproductions of a single type .