midday
Wages for labour had soared and soared again since my day in Australia , even for elderly and ` down-along more than up-along ` men like Isaiah Fetch . -LRB- The phrase is his own . -RRB- And , in any case , I told myself , it was not for the likes of me to keep hired men . And so , when the garden was made , and the other needed work done , I parted with Isaiah -- a good , honest , homespun creature , rich in a sort of bovine contentment which often moved me to sincere envy -- and was left quite alone in my hermitage , save for the morning visit of perhaps a couple of hours , which the worthy Mrs. Blades undertook to pay for the purpose of tidying my rooms and cooking a midday meal for me . Her coming between nine and ten each morning , and going between twelve and one , formed the chief , if not the only , landmarks in the routine of my quiet days . So it was when I parted with Isaiah . So it is to-day , and so it is like to remain -- while I remain .