noon
Knock out the Prolonged and Indefinitely Continuous ; four-fifths of it is water , anyway . '' `` But I beg you , podere ! It is often quite indispensable in cases where -- '' `` Pipe the next squad to the assault ! '' But it was not to be ; for at that moment the dull boom of the noon gun floated up out of far-off Florence , followed by the usual softened jangle of church-bells , Florentine and suburban , that bursts out in murmurous response ; by labor-union law the _ colazione _ -LRB- 1 -RRB- must stop ; stop promptly , stop instantly , stop definitely , like the chosen and best of the breed of Hads . 1 . Colazione is Italian for a collection , a meeting , a seance , a sitting . -- M.T.