noon
There are many strange stories told of the truck-horse . Among others is the following : There was a parrot , that from having long been suspended in its cage from a low window fronting a dock , had learned to converse pretty fluently in the language of the stevedores and truckmen . One day a truckman left his vehicle standing on the quay , with its back to the water . It was noon , when an interval of silence falls upon the docks ; and Poll , seeing herself face to face with the horse , and having a mind for a chat , cried out to him , `` Back ! back ! back ! '' Backward went the horse , precipitating himself and truck into the water .