noon
All was simple . The room in the town-hall was , from its size , well adapted for the purpose , and the humble rude-shaped lamps which hung on the walls , had , up to that time , thrown out light enough to show off the dresses and illumine the pretty faces of the maidens of Ulm . But not only had the arrangements of the active scribe succeeded in everything he had undertaken on this important occasion ; he had also in the course of his visits learned some secret intelligence which had been confided solely to the committee of the council , and the principal officers of the League . Satisfied with the result of his various avocations , he returned home at noon , when his first step was to inquire after his guest . Albert had been employed , during the absence of his host , in looking over a beautifully-written book of chronicles , which he found in his room . The neat painted figures which formed the first letter of the chapters , the pictures of fields of battle , and triumphal entries of victorious troops , delineated with a bold outline , and painted with peculiar care and labour , and which were dispersed throughout the volume , had amused him for some time . His mind being full of the warlike figures he had been examining , induced him to think of his own weapons , and of polishing his helmet , armour , and the sword which he had inherited from his father .