noon
Already he saw it `` whole . '' Faith asks no travelers ' questions -- exact height of mountains , length of rivers , distance from the sea , precise spelling of names , and so forth . He felt -- the quaint and striking simile is in the written account -- like a man hunting for a pillar-box in a strange city -- absurdly difficult to find , as though purposely concealed by the authorities amid details of street and houses to which the eye is unaccustomed , yet really close at hand all the time ... . But at Trebizond , a few hours before Batoum , Dr. Stahl in his zealous attentions went too far ; for that evening he gave his `` patient '' a sleeping-draught in his coffee that caused him to lie for twelve hours on the cabin sofa , and when at length he woke toward noon , the Customs officers had been aboard since nine o'clock , and most of the passengers had already landed . Among them , leaving no message , the big Russian had also gone ashore . And , though Stahl may have been actuated by the wisest and kindest motives , he was not quite prepared for the novel experience with which it provided him -- namely , of hearing an angry Irishman saying rapidly what he thought of him in a stream of eloquent language that lasted nearly a quarter of an hour without a break ! Although Batoum is a small place , and the trains that leave it during the day are few enough , O'Malley knew that to search for his friend by the methods of the ordinary detective was useless .