About one o'clock in the afternoon
He swung along at a great gait for one who walked . Life for months without a roof had been hard , but it had toughened wonderfully those whom it did not kill , and John with a magnificent constitution was one of those who had profited most . He felt no weariness now although he had come many miles . About one o'clock in the afternoon he sat on a stone by the roadside and ate with the appetite of vigorous youth good food from his knapsack . While he was there a German sergeant , with about twenty men in wagons going toward Metz , stopped and spoke to him . `` Hey , you on the stone , what are you doing ? '' asked the sergeant .