noon
To arrive at this quietest of seaside villages late in June , when the busy herb-gathering season was just beginning , was also to arrive in the early prime of Mrs. Todd 's activity in the brewing of old-fashioned spruce beer . This cooling and refreshing drink had been brought to wonderful perfection through a long series of experiments ; it had won immense local fame , and the supplies for its manufacture were always giving out and having to be replenished . For various reasons , the seclusion and uninterrupted days which had been looked forward to proved to be very rare in this otherwise delightful corner of the world . My hostess and I had made our shrewd business agreement on the basis of a simple cold luncheon at noon , and liberal restitution in the matter of hot suppers , to provide for which the lodger might sometimes be seen hurrying down the road , late in the day , with cunner line in hand . It was soon found that this arrangement made large allowance for Mrs. Todd 's slow herb-gathering progresses through woods and pastures . The spruce-beer customers were pretty steady in hot weather , and there were many demands for different soothing syrups and elixirs with which the unwise curiosity of my early residence had made me acquainted . Knowing Mrs. Todd to be a widow , who had little beside this slender business and the income from one hungry lodger to maintain her , one 's energies and even interest were quickly bestowed , until it became a matter of course that she should go afield every pleasant day , and that the lodger should answer all peremptory knocks at the side door .