noon
Among other things I recollect I knocked him down with a stool , and was for flinging him out of the window ; but my uncle , who was cool , and had been keeping Lent with his usual solemnity , interposed between us , and a reconciliation took place , Pippi apologising and confessing he had been wrong . I ought to have doubted , however , the sincerity of the treacherous Italian ; indeed , as I never before believed a word that he said in his life , I know not why I was so foolish as to credit him now , and go to bed , leaving the keys of our cash-box with him . It contained , after our loss to the cuirassiers , in bills and money , near upon L8000 sterling . Pippi insisted that our reconciliation should be ratified over a bowl of hot wine , and I have no doubt put some soporific drug into the liquor ; for my uncle and I both slept till very late the next morning , and woke with violent headaches and fever : we did not quit our beds till noon . He had been gone twelve hours , leaving our treasury empty ; and behind him a sort of calculation , by which he strove to make out that this was his share of the profits , and that all the losses had been incurred without his consent . Thus , after eighteen months , we had to begin the world again . But was I cast down ?