noon
`` I have no money , '' said Marteau quickly . `` The King pays ill enough , '' answered the officer , `` but what I have is ever at the service of a good comrade . '' He assisted Marteau into the cabriolet , allowed Pierre to climb up beside him , paid the driver his fare , and bade him take the two to the headquarters in the barracks . It was noon when Marteau presented himself before the house in which the Major of the first battalion , an old veteran named Lestoype , was quartered . `` Who shall I say wants to see him ? '' asked the orderly before the door . `` A soldier of the Empire , '' was the bold answer , and it proved an open sesame to the astonished orderly .