two in the
afternoon
What that past might be , he did not know or try to learn . `` Mind your own business , '' Seth had declared to be the motto of Eastboro Twin-Lights , and that motto suited both parties to the agreement . The lightkeeper stood watch in the tower at night . During most of the day he slept ; but , after the first week was over , and his trust in his helper became more firm , he developed the habit of rising at two in the afternoon , eating a breakfast -- or dinner , or whatever the meal might be called -- and wandering off along the crooked road leading south and in the direction of Pounddug Slough . The road , little used and grass grown , twisted and turned amid the dunes until it disappeared in a distant grove of scrub oaks and pitch pines . Each afternoon -- except on Sundays and on the occasions of his excursions to the village -- Atkins would rise from the table , saunter to the door to look at the weather , and then , without excuse or explanation , start slowly down the road . For the first hundred yards he sauntered , then the saunter became a brisk walk , and when he reached the edge of the grove he was hurrying almost at a dog trot .