midday
All the daylight would be theirs . It was a chance not to be missed , for as the tides grew later in the day their time for fishing would be cut shorter . Almost every woman and child turned out through the gate with their nets in their hands . By midday the plain was dotted over by them , and the wintry sun shone pleasantly down , and the quiet rock caught the echo of their voices . Farther away , out of sight and hearing , the men also were busy , Michel among them , casting nets upon the sea . As the low sun went down in the southern sky , the scattered groups came home by twos and threes , anxious to bring in their day 's fishing in time for the men to carry them across to the mainland before the Mont should be shut in by the tide . A busy scene was that in the gateway .