twelve
o'clock
First of all he had set himself , by talking to him and lending him books , to find out his bent , or at least something he was capable of . But for months he could not wake him enough to know anything of what was in him : the poor fellow was weary almost to death . At last , however , he got him to observe a little . Then he began to set him certain tasks ; and as he was an invalid , the first was what he called `` The task of twelve o'clock ; '' -- which was , for a quarter of an hour from every noon during a month , to write down what he then saw going on in the world . The first day he had nothing to show : he had seen nothing ! `` What were the clouds doing ? '' Mr. Wingfold asked .