noon
From that point a good proportion of the rivermen , eager for a taste of the town , tramped away down the road , to return early in the morning , more or less drunk , but faithful to their job . One or two did not return . Among the revellers was the cook , Charlie , commonly called The Doctor . The rivermen early worked off the effects of their rather wild spree , and turned up at noon chipper as larks . Not so the cook . He moped about disconsolately all day ; and in the evening , after his work had been finished , he looked so much like a chicken with the pip that Orde 's attention was attracted . `` Got that dark-brown taste , Charlie ? ''