noon
Then he would perhaps take a letter , if he could be sure of good pay , and that he would not be delivered up to the police . So Anthony had written on a sheet torn from his notebook , and made an envelope of another sheet . The address of the Ghezireh Palace had helped the man to believe that no evil would reach his father ; and a `` sweetener '' in the shape of all Anthony 's ready money had done the rest . But evidently the old man had not succeeded in finding an excuse for an errand until after the noon hour , and meanwhile time had seemed long in the House of the Crocodile . When the girls waked , wanting to go home , they were ill . They found the game not worth the candle -- but Anthony 's presence had given them comfort . They were humble , and remorseful ; and Bedr was so conspicuously a worm that Monny consented to his discharge .