noons
And -- uh -- And -- uh -- I 'll be back by two . '' He dusted the cigar-ashes off his vest . He placed a difficult unanswered letter on the pile of unfinished work , that he might not fail to attend to it that afternoon . -LRB- For three noons , now , he had placed the same letter on the unfinished pile . -RRB- He scrawled on a sheet of yellow backing-paper the memorandum : `` See abt apt h drs , '' which gave him an agreeable feeling of having already seen about the apartment-house doors . He discovered that he was smoking another cigar . He threw it away , protesting , `` Darn it , I thought you 'd quit this darn smoking ! ''