about three o'clock in the afternoon
But the spirit of the town seemed depressed and empty . It was a national holiday . The Italian flag was hanging from almost every housefront . It was about three o'clock in the afternoon . Aaron sat in the restaurant of the hotel drinking tea , for he was rather tired , and looking through the thin curtains at the little square outside , where people passed : little groups of dark , aimless-seeming men , a little bit poorer looking -- perhaps rather shorter in stature -- but very much like the people in any other town . Yet the feeling of the city was so different from that of London . There seemed a curious emptiness .