noon
Well , he wrote the note . There was a kind of smile on his face , which was paler than usual all the while ; and he read it over , and threw himself back in his chair , and then read it over again , and did not like it , and tore it up . Then he thought hard for a while , leaning upon his elbow ; and took a couple of great pinches of snuff , and snuffed his candle again , and , as it were , snuffed his wits , and took up his pen with a little flourish , and dashed off another , and read it , and liked it , and gave it a little sidelong nod , as though he said , ` You 'll do ; ' and , indeed , considering all the time and thought he spent upon it , the composition was no great wonder , being , after all , no more than this : -- ` DEAR SIR , -- Will you give me the honour of a meeting at my house this morning , as you pass through the town ? I shall remain within till noon ; and hope for some minutes ' private discourse with you . ` Your most obedient , very humble servant , ` BARNABAS STURK . ' Then he sealed it with a great red seal , large enough for a patent almost , impressed with the Sturk arms -- a boar 's head for crest , and a flaunting scroll , with ` Dentem fulmineum cave ' upon it . Then he peeped again from the window to see if the gray of the morning had come , for he had left his watch under his bolster , and longed for the time of action .