noon
For a moment she looked out at the water undulating under the moon like mother-of-pearl on a waving fan . `` But it was all right to say I loved you then , '' she went on reflectively , after a pause . `` I had a perfect right then to tell you that I loved you better than all the small total of the world beside , and -- '' her voice faltered for a moment -- `` and , '' with a musical laugh , she illogically added , `` I have nothing to take back of what I then said , though of course I ca n't ever say it again . '' Several days later , Blanco arrived in Puntal shortly after the lazy noon hour . Out of disconnected fragments of fact and memory he had evolved a theory . It was a theory as yet immature and half-baked , but one upon which he resolved to act , trusting to the lucky outcome of subsequent events for the filling in of many gaps , and the making good of many deficiencies . Among the shreds of fragmentary information which Manuel had previously stored away in his memory was the fact that one José Reebeler was a capitalist .