noon
Putting a bill into her hand Sam went downstairs and getting into a taxicab drove back to his hotel . After that night he went frequently on carouses of this kind . He was in a kind of prolonged stupor of inaction , talked of trips abroad which he did not take , bought a huge farm in Virginia which he never visited , planned a return to business which he did not execute , and month after month continued to waste his days . He would get out of bed at noon and begin drinking steadily . As the afternoon passed he grew merry and talkative , calling men by their first names , slapping chance acquaintances on the back , playing pool or billiards with skilful young men intent upon gain . In the early summer he got in with a party of young men from New York and with them spent months in sheer idle waste of time . Together they drove high-powered automobiles on long trips , drank , quarrelled , and went on board a yacht to carouse , alone or with women .