noon
That was the fourth time I had seen him in an hour , and I dreaded to go to the hotel , sure I would meet him again -- for , of course , he could not have gone anywhere else but to the Oriente . I thought it strange that he should be talking to the little beggar , although it never occurred to me that they were watching me ; and , even if they were , I would have not concerned myself much about it . As it was , I ascribed Meeker 's embarrassment when I last saw him to what had passed between us in the bus , and concluded that he was trying to avoid me , which I considered a praiseworthy effort on his part . There was a possibility of orders awaiting me at the hotel ; and , although it was not yet noon , I hailed a rig and drove there . The clerk passed over the familiar yellow envelope , and my message read : `` Proceed to Hong-Kong for orders . '' I replied that I would leave at once , and the message was gone before I discovered that there was n't a steamer for Hong-Kong before the end of the week , five days away . It would have sounded silly to dispatch another message , telling of lack of steamers .