noon
Then of a sudden the uproar stopped , and the ringing of axes and grating of saws and tugging of mules was heard . The forest trembled as by some mighty magic , swaying and falling with crash on crash . Huge bonfires blazed and crackled , until at last a wide black scar appeared in the thick south side of the swamp , which widened and widened to full twenty acres . The sun rose higher and higher till it blazed at high noon . The workers dropped their tools . The aroma of coffee and roasting meat rose in the dim cool shade . With ravenous appetites the dark , half-famished throng fell upon the food , and then in utter weariness stretched themselves and slept : lying along the earth like huge bronze earth-spirits , sitting against trees , curled in dense bushes .