noon
They were a little distance apart , and they leaned against their support with the composure of three cabinet ministers on their green benches on the night of a great debate . Their feet were slightly parted , and they gazed on the road with a solemn , placid expression , as of men to whom the Atlantean weight of this weary world was as the down on a feather . Calmly and judicially , as if seeing nothing , yet weighing all things , they looked on pebble and broken limestone , never raising their heads , never removing their hands from their pockets . They had been there since breakfast time that morning , and it was now past noon . `` My God , '' said Father Letheby , when I told him , '' ' t is awful ! '' '' ' T is the sublime , '' I said . `` And do you mean to tell me that they have never stirred from that posture for two long hours ? ''