noon
Sometimes I do both . Let 's do both now . '' So they sat silent side by side ; one held her breath and the other held her thumbs , but only the dusk crept in from the sea . Thorogood , Lieutenant of the Afternoon Watch , climbed the ladder to the upper bridge as the bell struck the half-hour after noon . A blue worsted muffler , gift and handiwork of an aunt on the outbreak of war , enfolded his neck . He wore a pair of glasses in a case slung over one shoulder and black leather gauntlet-gloves . The Officer of the Forenoon Watch , known among his messmates as Tweedledee , was focusing the range-finder on the ship ahead of them in the line ; he looked round as the new-comer appeared , and greeted him with a grin .