noon
He stopped and looked in a jeweler 's window next door . He stood there fifteen minutes . Time and again he nerved himself up to entering the restaurant , only to feel cold sweat break out on his forehead as he lifted his foot . He would return to the lodging house , change his clothes , and see her when he ate at noon . He would never let her see him in those now hated new clothes . He had squandered thirty-eight dollars for her , and he had only twenty-nine left . Down the street from the heart of the city came a sudden clangor .