noon
He turned back to his desk . What would he be after twenty years of this ? He waked every morning with the day 's routine facing him -- knowing that not once in the eight hours would there be a demand upon his mentality , not once would there be the thrill of real accomplishment . At noon when he saw Miss Terry strew bird seed on the broad window sill for the sparrows , he likened it to the diversions of a prisoner in his cell . And , when he ate lunch with a group of fellow clerks in a cheap restaurant across the way , he wondered , as they went back , why they were spared the lockstep . In this mood he left the office at half-past four , and passing the place where he usually ate , inexpensively , he entered a luxurious up-town hotel . There he read the papers until half-past six ; then dined in a grill room which permitted informal dress .