noon
It seemed as if the money in that portmanteau rustled a portentous warning , but `` a spirit in his feet '' led him to execute a quick left-flank movement as he sped first across the triangle , passing under the shadow of the Washington statue -LRB- pride of the job brass founder -RRB- , and , with a stolen side glance , he surveyed the lady once more , as she leisurely mounted the steps of the `` Restaurant Bavaria . '' His eyes dropped in a strange confusion as he once more met the sweetly serious glance of those wonderful eyes , now resting upon him with a gleam of vaguely timid inquiry . The delicately moulded arm and slender hand were revealed , as with a graceful sweep the lady lifted her rustling drapery and disappeared within the doors of the one foreign café lingering reluctant on Union Square . With a sigh , Randall Clayton turned back toward the south , for a hasty glance at a clock face told him that there was left him but fifteen minutes wherein to reach the Bank , before the brazen bells would clang high noon . His heart was beating strangely as he retraced his steps , for the ichor of young blood was boiling in his veins at last . He was lost in a clouding day dream , as he recrossed Fourth Avenue and only dimly saw the foxy face of his office boy flash out of the jostling crowd on the corner before he darted over . As he resolutely stemmed the tide pouring eastward , he had turned down Broadway before he realized that there had been a half smile of recognition on those rich red Hungarian lips , a wordless message in the dark splendors of the gleaming eyes .