midday
He would have been content with any humdrum existence that permitted his peaceable , commercially gifted soul to develop in its natural environment . The process , therefore , by which Norrie Ford became Herbert Strange , even in his own thoughts , had been one of inner travail , though the outward conditions could not have been more favorable . Now that he had reached a point where his more obvious anxieties were passing away , and the hope of safety was becoming a reality , he could look back and see how relatively easy everything had been . He had leisure for reflection because it was the hour for the men 's midday meal and siesta . He could see them grouped together -- some thirty-odd -- at the far end of the shed -- sturdy little Italians , black-eyed , smiling , thrifty , dirty , and contented to a degree that made them incomprehensible to the ambitious , upward-toiling American set over them . They sat , or lounged , on piles of wood , or on the floor , some chattering , most of them asleep . He had begun like them .