noon
But the scion of the Febrers , the descendant of opulent merchants and heroic navigators , was forced to resist , thinking of the money stowed away in his girdle . Probably he did not possess enough to make the purchase . In another store he acquired a knife for Pepet , the largest and heaviest he could find , an absurd weapon , capable of making him forget the relic of his glorious grandfather . At noon , Febrer , bored by objectless strolling through the ward of the Marina , and along the steep , narrow streets of the ancient Royal Fortress , entered a small inn , the only one in the city , situated near the port . There he met the customary patrons . In the vestibule a few youths dressed in peasant style , with military caps , soldiers of the garrison who served as orderlies ; within the dining-room , subaltern officers of a batallion of light infantry , young lieutenants who were smoking with a bored mien and gazing through the windows at the immense blue expanse like prisoners of the sea . During the meal they lamented their bad luck at having their youth wasted by being chained to this rock .