noon
He said if Susie `` played up '' this way she 'd have to quit ; there were plenty of girls waiting to take her place , and he had n't time to fool with kids that wanted to lie around and be fanned . It was his last few words as she was reviving that stung Susie to life again and put her back at her machine for the last time in nervous panic , with the thought of what would happen at home if she lost her job . Up above her the great heavy machines thrashed on and the floor trembled with their movement . Black and thick and hot was the air around Susie and she scarcely could see , for dizziness , the machinery which she worked from habit , as she stood swaying in her place , and wondering if she could hold out till the noon whistle blew . Down in the basement , near one of the elevator shafts , a pile of waste lay smoldering , out of sight . One of the boys from the lumber-yard down the next block had stopped to light his cigarette as he passed out into the street after bringing a bill to the head manager . He tossed his match away , not seeing where it fell .