the summer noon
They smiled at each other , and she sat down by the window . `` Read , '' she said ; `` I can see my children from here . I wonder why Ricky is leaving ? '' Suddenly , in the silence of the summer noon , far in the east , a dull sound shook the stillness . Again they heard it -- again , and again -- a deep boom , muttering , reverberating like summer thunder . `` Why should they fire cannon to-day , Helen ? '' asked the old man , querulously .