noon
They felt as if they had been racked ; joints stiffer , limbs wearier , mouth more hot and dry than when they had lain down ; they could not have slept more than an hour , fortunately . It did not surprise them to see Weiss sitting where they had seen him before , in the same dejected attitude , apparently waiting for them to awake . `` _ Fichtre _ ! '' exclaimed Jean , `` we must get up and report ourselves to the first sergeant before noon . '' He uttered a smothered cry of pain as he jumped to the floor and began to dress . `` Before noon ! '' said Weiss .