noon
I had never hoped to be given one from the kennels of Monsieur de Savignac 's château . `` Enchanted , Pierre ! '' I cried -- `` Present my compliments to Monsieur de Savignac . Tell him how sincerely grateful I am , and say that he may expect me to-morrow before noon . '' I could easily imagine what a beauty my spaniel would be , clean-limbed and alert like the ones in the coloured lithographs . `` No wonder , '' I thought , as Pierre left me , `` that every peasant for miles around spoke of this good Monsieur de Savignac 's generosity . Here he was giving me a dog .