noon
It looked to him as if he must be down there all day . There was almost a panic in the planing rooms . The air was heavy with the horror of the night before . Owing to the wreck , there was more need of work in the shops than ever ; but along toward noon Burns came into the office , pulling a long face , and asking Mr. Hardy to step across the yard and talk to the men , who had threatened , Burns said , to do mischief if they were not given the afternoon to go down to the scene of the disaster . Mr. Hardy rose with a sinking heart , and followed Burns into the planing rooms . He told the foreman to get the men together in the centre of the room . They stopped their machines and gathered in the largest open space between the planers , and Mr. Hardy addressed them : `` What do you want ?