noon
He was a quaint genius , named Arthur ; and his position , on the whole , was somewhat more elevated than that of our English `` Boots . '' During these two days I became quite an expert in the invention of immediate personal wants ; for , as I continued my studies of local life from the windows of my apartment , I frequently desired information , and would then ring my bell , hoping that Arthur would be the person to respond , as he usually was . He was an extremely profane youth , but profane in a quiet , drawling , matter-of-fact manner . He was frequently semi-intoxicated by noon , and sometimes quite inarticulate by 9 P.M. ; but I never saw him with his bodily equilibrium seriously impaired -- in plainer words , I never saw him stagger . He openly confessed to a weakness for an occasional glass , but would have repelled with scorn , perhaps with blows , an insinuation attributing to him excess in that direction . True , he referred to times in his life when he had been `` caught '' -- meaning that the circumstances were on those occasions such as to preclude any successful denial of intoxication ; but these occasions , it was implied , dated back to the period of his giddy youth . With little to occupy my mind -LRB- I had the St. Louis dailies , one of which was the best newspaper -- excepting , of course , our _ Times _ -- that I have ever read ; but my trunks did not arrive until a day or two later , and I was without my favorite books -RRB- , I became really interested in studying the persons whom I saw passing and repassing the hotel , or stopping to converse on the opposite street-corners ; and after forming surmises concerning those of them who most interested me , I would ask Arthur who they were , and then compare with my own opinions the truth as furnished by him .