noon
If the sahib cares to listen , I will tell him truth that has not been written in the papers . '' So , having diagnosed my nationality and need , he proceeded to tell me patiently things that many English are in the dark about , both because of the censorship and because of the prevailing superstition that the English resent being told -- he stabbing and sweeping at the dust with a broken twig and making little heaps and dents by way of illustration , -- I sitting silent , brushing away the flies . Day after day I sought him soon after dawn when they were rolling up the tent-flaps . I shared the curry and chapatties that a trooper brought to him at noon , and I fetched water for him to drink from time to time . It was dusk each day before I left him , so that , what with his patience and my diligence , I have been able to set down the story as he told it , nearly in his own words . But of Risaldar-major Ranjoor Singh bahadur in the flesh , I have not had another glimpse . I went in search of him the very first evening , only to learn that he had `` passed his medical '' that afternoon and had returned at once to active service .