noon
Gilles made no reply that can be written , for what letters can shape a Norman grunt ? Perhaps ` Wauch ! ' comes nearest . They fought on horseback , with swords , from noon to sunset , and having hacked one another out of the similitude of men , there was nothing left them to do but swoon side by side on the sodden leaves . In the morning Gaston , unclogging one eye , perceived that his enemy had gone . ` No matter , ' said the spent hero to himself . ` I will wait till he comes back , and have at him again . '