noon
`` Yes . '' `` Oh ! '' said Mrs. Anderson . After dinner Anderson sat beside the sitting-room window with his noon mail , as was his custom , for a few minutes before returning to the store , and his mother came up behind him . She stroked his hair , which was thick and brown , and only a little gray on the temples . `` She is a very pretty girl , and I think she is a dear child to come back and not leave her father alone , '' she said . Anderson did not look up , but he leaned his head caressingly towards his mother .