noon
Many a vessel loaded with a rich freight of sugar , or tobacco , or other produce of the colonies , had fallen a prey to the enemy , who swooped out of St. Malo or Brest , as Woodrow said , and snapped up our barques almost within sight of their harbor . 'T was not to be wondered at that those who had suffered in this way should make reprisals . The Sans Pareil had such a fascination for me -LRB- never having seen a king 's ship before -RRB- that I was only awakened to the passage of time by the crying out of my stomach . I had promised Mistress Perry , the widow with whom I had taken up my abode , that I would return punctually at noon for my dinner , and now the church clocks -LRB- no less than my hunger -RRB- told me it was long past that hour . She would be mightily vexed , and the joint would be burned black , and I neither wished to offend her nor to eat cinders . So I now hurried away as fast as my legs would carry me , and soon came to the footpath leading to Clifton . As I turned the corner by Jacob 's Well , I stepped hastily aside to avoid a man who was coming fast in the opposite direction .