noon
There were offers enough of more salary and higher position from those who came to know the agent , but he was part of Farley itself , and had come to care deeply about his neighbors , while a larger mill and salary were not exactly the things that could tempt his ambition . It was but a lonely life for a man in the old agent 's quarters where one of the widows of the Corporation , a woman who had been brought up in a gentleman 's house in the old country , kept house for him with a certain show of propriety . Ever since he was a boy his room was never without its late evening light , and books and hard study made his chief companionship . As Mrs. Kilpatrick went home holding little Maggie by the hand that windy noon , the agent was sitting in the company 's counting-room with one of the directors and largest stockholders , and they were just ending a long talk about the mill affairs . The agent was about forty years old now and looked fifty . He had a pleasant smile , but one saw it rarely enough , and just now he looked more serious than usual . `` I am very glad to have had this long talk with you , '' said the old director .