about noon
Why were two grown men -- one an eminent psychologist and the other a gray-haired youth with a singular air -- carrying about on their walks a text-book for the instruction of boys of thirteen or fourteen ? The next day that curiosity of mine was piqued in earnest . It rained and I did not leave the inn , but sat under the great archway and took notes in colour of the shining road , bright drenched fields , and dripping sky . My back was toward the courtyard , that is , `` three-quarters '' to it , and about noon I became distracted from my work by a strong self-consciousness which came upon me without any visible or audible cause . Obeying an impulse , I swung round on my camp-stool and looked up directly at the gallery window of the salon of the `` Grande Suite . '' A man with a great white beard was standing at the window , half hidden by the curtain , watching me intently . He perceived that I saw him and dropped the curtain immediately , a speck of colour in his buttonhole catching my eye as it fell .