noon
And the cornet was heard : it was heard for blocks and blocks ; it was heard over all that part of the town -- in the vicinity of the church it was the only thing that could be heard . In his daily walk this cornetist had no enemies : he was kind-hearted ; he would not have shot a mad dog ; he gladly nursed the sick . He sat upon the platform before the children ; he swelled , perspired and blew , and felt that it was a good blowing . If other thoughts vapoured upon the borders of his mind , they were of the dinner he would eat , soon after noon , at the house of one of the frilled , white-muslin teachers . He was serene . His eyes were not blasted ; his heart was not instantly withered ; his thin , bluish hair did not fall from his head ; his limbs were not detached from his torso -- yet these misfortunes had been desired for him , with comprehension and sincerity , at the first flat blat of his brassy horn . It is impossible to imagine the state of mind of this young cornetist , could he have known that he had caused the prettiest girl in town to jump violently out of bed with what petitions upon her lips regarding his present whereabouts and future detention !