The noon sun
`` Oh , as for ideas -- '' `` Well ? '' I hazarded , `` as for ideas -- ? '' We went through the old gateway and I cast a glance over my shoulder . The noon sun was shining over the masonry , over the little saints ' effigies , over the little fretted canopies , the grime and the white streaks of bird-dropping . `` There , '' I said , pointing toward it , `` does n't that suggest something to you ? '' She made a motion with her head -- half negative , half contemptuous . `` But , '' I stuttered , `` the associations -- the ideas -- the historical ideas -- '' She said nothing .