noon
If he only had something to cover just them ! There seemed to be one down his back as well as round his waist ! And now Sir Gibbie , though not much poorer than he had been , really possessed nothing separable , except his hair and his nails -- nothing therefore that he could call his , as distinguished from him . His sole other possession was a negative quantity -- his hunger , namely , for he had not even a meal in his body : he had eaten nothing since the preceding noon . I am wrong -- he had one possession besides , though hardly a separable one -- a ballad about a fair lady and her page , which Donal had taught him . That he now began to repeat to himself , but was disappointed to find it a good deal withered . He was not nearly reduced to extremity yet though -- this little heir of the world : in his body he had splendid health , in his heart a great courage , and in his soul an ever-throbbing love .