one o'clock
He stepped to the window and looked out . At the mill-dock a big steam schooner and a wind-jammer lay ; in the lee of the piles of lumber , sailors and long-shoremen , tallymen and timekeeper lounged , enjoying the brief period of the noon hour still theirs before the driving mates of the lumber-vessels should turn them to on the job once more . To his right and left stretched the drying yard , gangway on gangway formed by the serried rows of lumber-piles , the hoop-horses placidly feeding from their nosebags while the strong-armed fellows who piled the lumber sat about in little groups conversing with the mill-hands . As Bryce looked , a puff of white steam appeared over the roof of the old sawmill , and the one o'clock whistle blew . Instantly that scene of indolence and ease turned to one of activity . The mill-hands lounging in the gangways scurried for their stations in the mill ; men climbed to the tops of the lumber-piles , while other men passed boards and scantlings up to them ; the donkey-engines aboard the vessels rattled ; the cargo-gaffs of the steam schooner swung outward , and a moment later two great sling-loads of newly sawed lumber rose in the air , swung inward , and descended to the steamer 's decks . All about Bryce were scenes of activity , of human endeavour ; and to him in that moment came the thought : `` My father brought all this to pass -- and now the task of continuing it is mine !