noon
`` And I reckon you 'll have to admit that I handled the small part that come my way with ease and dispatch , when I tell you that he did n't catch so much as one lonesome pair , all the time I was dealing . I 'm ashamed of myself . I have n't seen such a mean , crooked game of stud dealt since I come East ! '' Garry was very quiet the next morning when he and Steve went back to their work ; before noon came his uneasiness had become very apparent to the man whom he was assisting . But neither his silence nor his nervousness any longer worried Steve . Instead , the latter let himself smile over both those outward evidences of inward panic , whenever his thoughts were on Garry at all . For the latter 's diffidence as the day aged became a flushed and warm-checked thing , until at four in the afternoon Steve could no longer withhold the suggestion for which wordlessly , Garry was asking .