two o'clock
The string of guests extended through the yard ; when the foremost of them reached the house , they broke the chain and dispersed , while behind they were still coming in at the open gate . The ditches were now lined with urchins and poor curious people , and the shots did not cease , but came from every side at once , and mingled a cloud of smoke , and that smell which has the same intoxicating effects as absinthe , with the atmosphere . The women were shaking their dresses outside the door , to get rid of the dust , were undoing their cap strings and pulling their shawls over their arms , and then they went into the house to lay them aside altogether for the time . The table was laid in the great kitchen , that would hold a hundred persons ; they sat down to dinner at two o'clock and at eight o'clock they were still eating , and the men , in their shirt sleeves , with their waistcoats unbuttoned , and with red faces , were swallowing the food and drink down , as if they had been whirlpools . The cider sparkled merrily , clear and golden in the large glasses , by the side of the dark , blood-colored wine , and between every dish they made the hole , the Normandy hole , with a glass of brandy which inflamed the body , and put foolish notions into the head . From time to time , one of the guests , being as full as a barrel , would go out for a few moments to get a mouthful of fresh air , as they said , and then return with redoubled appetite . The farmers ' wives , with scarlet faces and their stays nearly bursting , did not like to follow their example , until one of them , feeling more uncomfortable than the others , went out , when all the rest followed her example , and they came back quite ready for any fun , and the rough jokes began afresh .