noon
His life of yesterday abruptly presented itself to him as a reminiscence ; he saw now how happy that life had been , and how lightly he had accepted it . It took to itself all that precious quality of things irrevocably lost . The clamor of the bell in the South Church striking noon , and the shrilling of the steam-whistle softened by the thick-falling snow , roused Richard from his abstraction . He was surprised that it was noon . He rose from the bench and went home through the storm , scarcely heeding the sleet that snapped in his face like whip-lashes . Margaret was going to die ! For four or five weeks the world was nearly a blank to Richard Shackford .