Two
o'clock
A lamp hung from the ceiling with the light thrown down by a shade . The shutters were put up at the usual time , but as the nights were very warm the door was left open , and as the hours wore on the women pulled their jackets open a little more at the throat , and he sat in his corner and looked on as if he were at a theater . The silence of the street was broken by a passing carriage . Two o'clock struck -- no longer a sound from outside . At half-past two a man hurried past the door , carrying with him a vision of flying arms , piles of white linen and a glow of yellow light . Goujet , wishing to save Etienne from Coupeau 's rough treatment , had taken him to the place where he was employed to blow the bellows , with the prospect of becoming an apprentice as soon as he was old enough , and Etienne thus became another tie between the clearstarcher and the blacksmith . All their little world laughed and told Gervaise that her friend worshiped the very ground she trod upon .