seven
o'clock Saturday evening
But it was Saturday , the regular pay-day , and he must needs wait until the long line of workmen , extending from Achille 's lodge to the cashier 's grated window , had gradually dispersed . Although very impatient and very depressed , the excellent youth , who had lived the life of a Paris workingman from his childhood , felt a thrill of pleasure at finding himself once more in the midst of the animated scenes peculiar to that time and place . Upon all those faces , honest or vicious , was an expression of satisfaction that the week was at an end . You felt that , so far as they were concerned , Sunday began at seven o'clock Saturday evening , in front of the cashier 's little lamp . One must have lived among workingmen to realize the full charm of that one day 's rest and its solemnity . Many of these poor creatures , bound fast to unhealthful trades , await the coming of the blessed Sunday like a puff of refreshing air , essential to their health and their life . What an overflow of spirits , therefore , what a pressing need of noisy mirth !