midday
`` Arcturus -- '' began the philosopher , soothingly , but he was interrupted by a demonstration out of the vastness of the nature that he was endeavoring to portray with his memory instead of his heart . For to the heart-expounder of nature the stars were set in the firmament expressly to give soft light to lovers wandering happily beneath them ; and if you stand tiptoe some September night with your sweetheart on your arm you can almost touch them with your hand . Three years for their light to reach us , indeed ! Out of the west leaped a meteor , lighting the roof of the skyscraper almost to midday . Its fiery parabola was limned against the sky toward the east . It hissed as it went , and Daisy screamed . `` Take me down , '' she cried , vehemently , `` you -- you mental arithmetic ! ''