midday
It is a small privilege for an old man , and he does not claim it often . '' I declared that the music had only pleased , and that I would welcome its repetition . Where upon she left me with a little bow and an invitation to join them that day at dinner , while I departed into the town on my own errands . I returned before midday , and was seated at an arbour in the garden , busy with letters , when there hove in sight the gaunt figure of Oliphant . He hovered around me , if such a figure can be said to hover , with the obvious intention of addressing me . The fellow had caught my fancy , and I was willing to see more of him . His face might have been hacked out of grey granite , his clothes hung loosely on his spare bones , and his stockined shanks would have done no discredit to Don Quixote .