noon
If his downfall be occasioned , as it generally is , by the intrigues of one of his own creatures , his downfall is merited for having been the dupe of a tool which in all probability he should never have employed . If he fall through the open attacks of his political opponents , his downfall is equally deserved for having occasioned by his impolicy the formation of a party , for having allowed it to be formed , or for not having crushed it when formed . No conjecture can possibly occur , however fearful , however tremendous it may appear , from which a man , by his own energy , may not extricate himself , as a mariner by the rattling of his cannon can dissipate the impending water-spout ! '' It was on the third day of the visit to Mr. Beckendorff , just as that gentleman was composing his mind after his noon meal with his favourite Cremona , and in a moment of rapture raising his instrument high in the air , that the door was suddenly dashed open , and Essper George rushed into the room . The intruder , the moment that his eye caught Vivian , flew to his master , and , seizing him by the arm , commenced and continued a loud shout of exultation , accompanying his scream the whole time by a kind of quick dance , which , though not quite as clamorous as the Pyrrhic , nevertheless completely drowned the scientific harmony of Mr. Beckendorff . So astounded were the three gentlemen by this unexpected entrance , that some moments elapsed ere either of them found words at his command . At length the master of the house spoke .