noon
He always wanted to know why . In this particular case he wished to know why the man called Blake had tried to hide himself in the clump of bushes beside the Upper Road when the automobile load of boys had come along and caught him examining the face of the Elmvale Dam through a field-glass . It was through a break in the trees that partly masked the dam the man had been looking , and Whistler knew that the spot in which he was interested must be directly beside the overflow of the dam -- where the water splashed down into the rocky river bed . Whistler did not lose interest in the attempt to inspire some of the factory workers to enlist in the Navy , and he worked just as hard as his mates all through the noon hour . But the puzzle connected with the man named Blake continued to peck at his mind like an insistent chick trying to get out of its shell . Hans Hertig 's desire to get some of his old friends to enlist bore some fruit . Three men promised to go down to the enlistment bureau on Saturday afternoon , when they had a half holiday .