noon
The telephone was out of commission , and Helen felt as though she were marooned in full sight of a civilization with which she could not communicate and which afforded her no benefits . It had been past one o'clock in the morning when Smith had brought her home from the fire . Long after that the excitement had kept her awake ; but she had fallen asleep at last , and wakened again only when it was broad day . It was , however , to be one of the longest days in her calendar , and by noon she felt as though she had been waiting for years in expectation of she did not know what . She tried to read , but found it impossible to fix her attention on the book . She began to run over some operatic scores on the piano , but the sound seemed to ring so oddly that she gave up this also . Between her mother and herself conversation languished -- and thus the slow hours wore on .