noon
His son George grew to be the pride of his mother , and became a noble prince in beautiful Italy . Centuries have passed since then , yet to-day enthusiastic artists still make pilgrimages to the hillside where the sun shines so brightly , to lay wreaths on the grave of the great architect George Peregrinus of the princely house of the Greylocks . They at least do not regard him who lies there as one born to misfortune . THE NUTS A Christmas Story for my Children and Grandchildren By Georg Ebers The wounded colonel , whom we were nursing back to health in our house , was not allowed to walk long , and in the after noon , after he had pottered about a little , he was obliged to rest in the comfortable old easy-chair , which was known as grandfather 's chair . When twilight fell , our dear guest lighted the last of the three pipes , which the doctor permitted him to smoke every day , and made a sign to the children , which the young people obeyed gladly , for they loved to listen to his stories . The convalescent was under orders not to talk for more than half an hour at a time , for his wounds were so severe that our experienced physician declared it to be contrary to the laws of nature and quite phenomenal that he should be among the living at all . As for his stories , they had never failed to hold the attention of his audience ; this was partly due to the fact that he usually had to break them off at the point where the interest had reached its climax .