nearly noon
But nowhere had they any word of Kazanovitch , until I visited a Polish artist who was illustrating his stories . He had been there , looking very worn and tired , and had talked vacantly about the sketches which the artist had showed him . After that I lost all trace of him again . It was nearly noon as I hurried to meet Craig at Kharkoff 's . Imagine my surprise to see Kazanovitch already there , seated in the wrecked office , furiously smoking cigarettes and showing evident signs of having something very disturbing on his mind . The moment he caught sight of me , he hurried forward . `` Is Professor Kennedy coming soon ? ''