noon
In all the towns he visited , people saw him walking alone through the streets late at night or in the early hours of the morning . Whispers concerning the matter ran about . The story of what was spoken of as his queerness came to the men with whom he worked , and they found themselves unable to talk freely and naturally in his presence . At the noon hour when the men ate the lunch they had carried to work , when the boss was gone and it was customary among the workers to talk of their own affairs , they went off by themselves . Hugh followed them about . They went to sit under a tree , and when Hugh came to stand nearby , they became silent or the more vulgar and shallow among them began to show off . While he worked with a half dozen other men as a section hand on the railroad , two men did all the talking .