noon
Then the packing and sending of holiday boxes , over the contents of which Olive and Rachel spent much careful planning and anxious preparation . Then another interval of more letters , letters which hinted vaguely at big things just ahead . Then no letter for more than a month . And then , one noon , as Captain Zelotes returned to his desk after the walk from home and dinner , Laban Keeler came in and stood beside that desk . The captain , looking up , saw the little bookkeeper 's face . `` What is it , Labe ? '' he asked , sharply .