noon
Weeks was not in the office , and anyway he wished to clear his mind , if possible , before he talked with him ; meanwhile sauntering up the east side of State Street with an eye for the shopping throng . People interested Harvey . He was fond of noting types , and of watching the sandwich-men , beggars , and shoe-string venders . Often at noon he would walk from Randolph Street to Harrison , observing the shifting character of Chicago 's great thoroughfare . To Harvey it seemed like a river , starting clear but gradually roiled by the smaller streams that poured in , each a little muddier than the one next north , until it was clogged and stagnant with the scum of the city . But to-day he was going north . The sidewalk was crowded with eager girls and jaded women , keen on the scent of bargains .