noon
I should n't wonder if the newspapers had a word about en ... '' The tears were running down his face . `` We must wait for the tide , '' said Taffy gently , and tried to lead him away , but he would not go . So they left him to watch and wait while they returned to their work . Before noon they recovered and fixed the broken wire cable . The iron cradle had disappeared , but to rig up a sling and carry out an endless line was no difficult job , and when this was done Taffy crossed over to the island rock and began to inspect damages . His working gear had suffered heavily , two of his windlasses were disabled , scaffolding , platforms , hods , and loose planks had vanished ; a few small tools only remained , mixed together in a mash of puddled lime . But the masonry stood unhurt , all except a few feet of the upper course on the seaward side , where the gale , giving the cement no time to set , had shaken the dove-tailed stones in their sockets -- a matter easily repaired .