midday
No rest for them until the task should be completed , and they taken back to their prison quarters at a late hour of the afternoon . The cruel gaoler told them so in a jeering way . He seemed to take a pleasure in making things disagreeable to them , as he strutted to and fro along their line , flourishing his _ quirt _ , and giving grand exhibition of his `` brief authority . '' A little after midday , however , there came a change in their favour , brought by unlooked-for circumstances . Groups of people began to gather in the Calle de Plateros , swarming into it from side streets , and taking stand upon the foot-walk . Soon they lined it all along as far as the eye could reach . Not _ pelados _ , but most of them belonging to a class respectable , attired in their holiday clothes , as on a _ dia de fiesta _ .