Noon
Amid the seeming confusion of our mysterious world individuals are so nicely adjusted to a system , and systems to one another and to a whole , that by stepping aside for a moment a man exposes himself to a fearful risk of losing his place for ever . Like Wakefield , he may become , as it were , the outcast of the universe . -LRB- SCENE , _ the corner of two principal streets _ , -LSB- 1 -RSB- _ the _ TOWN-PUMP _ talking through its nose _ . -RRB- Noon by the north clock ! Noon by the east ! High noon , too , by these hot sunbeams , which full , scarcely aslope , upon my head and almost make the water bubble and smoke in the trough under my nose . Truly , we public characters have a tough time of it !