noon
Thus talking to himself , Phil plodded on in the storm until he reached the business part of the town . There he found a store and soon had provided himself with a serviceable rubber coat , a pair of rubber boots and a soft hat . He put on his purchases , doing up his shoes and carrying them back under his arm . The parade started at noon . It was a dismal affair -- that is , so far as the performers were concerned , and the clowns looked much more funny than they felt . Mr. Miaco enlivened the spirits of those on the hayrack by climbing to the back of one of the horses drawing the clowns ' wagon , where he sat with a doll 's parasol over his head and a doll in his arms singing a lullaby . The people who were massed along the sidewalks of the main street did not appear to mind the rain at all .