noon
And so from morning to morning , and from night to night , they talked over their unholy trade till the price of shares and the sounds of sums of money entered into Alaric 's soul . And this , perhaps , is one of the greatest penalties to which men who embark in such trade are doomed , that they can never shake off the remembrance of their calculations ; they can never drop the shop ; they have no leisure , no ease ; they can never throw themselves with loose limbs and vacant mind at large upon the world 's green sward , and call children to come and play with them . At the Weights and Measures Alaric 's hours of business had been from ten to five . In Undy 's office they continued from one noon till the next , incessantly ; even in his dreams he was working in the share market . On his return to town Alaric found a letter from Captain Cuttwater , pressing very urgently for the repayment of his money . It had been lent on the express understanding that it was to be repaid when Parliament broke up . It was now the end of October , and Uncle Bat was becoming uneasy .