noon
I ai n't qualified for the judges ' stand , but -- did you ever strike this joy-promoting endurance run of language before ? '' `` Once . I did n't have you to read it to me , or I would have enjoyed it more , '' Gerard returned , stirring in his arm-chair opposite the ruddily glowing German stove . `` Do n't you want to give me a cigarette ; I have n't had one since noon . '' He was thinner and still colorless , otherwise there was little to show what the last month and a half had meant to Allan Gerard . Except when he rose or moved , the inert uselessness of his right arm was not obvious . And however hard the battles and rebellion he inwardly had passed through , tone or expression carried no outward intelligence of past conflict as he smiled across at his entertainer .