eleven o’clock
I remember perfectly well how business used to be carried on in those days . There was absolutely no competition , and although nobody in the town who was in trade got rich , except the banker and the brewer , nearly everybody was tolerably well off , and certainly not pressed with care as their successors are now . The draper , who lived a little way above us , was a deacon in our chapel , and every morning , soon after breakfast , he would start off for his walk of about four miles , stopping by the way to talk to his neighbours about the events of the day . At eleven o'clock or thereabouts he would return and would begin work . Everybody took an hour for dinner -- between one and two -- and at that time , especially on a hot July afternoon , the High Street was empty from end to end , and the profoundest peace reigned . My life as a child falls into two portions , sharply divided -- week-day and Sunday . During the week-day I went to the public school , where I learned little or nothing that did me much good .