noon
`` Boys , '' said Jim as they got up at its close , `` this is the best dinner we 've had since we came out here . '' Percy 's heart warmed toward the speaker . He knew that it was not the food alone that made Jim say what he did . It had been Percy 's habit to smoke three or four cigarettes during the half-hour of rest all were accustomed to take after the noon meal . He went , as usual , to his suit-case , and this time took out , not merely one package , but all he had , including his sack of loose tobacco and two books of wrappers . `` Got a good fire , Filippo ? '' he inquired , approaching the stove .