noon
For a moment , his lips had curled into a complacent little smile ; the next minute , he had sucked in his breath sharply between his clenched teeth . In her excitement , Cicely had mistaken her distance ; she had flatted by a full half-tone the final upper note , reducing the tonal climax of the overture to the level of a comic song . A few days later , however , Cicely was destined to make an impression upon something besides the nerve centres of her hero . As a rule , Mr. Barrett took his baths at odd hours , either going to the beach in the early morning , or else delaying until the rest of the world was at the noon dinner which it sought ravenously , the moment it left the beach . On this particular day , however , his watch apparently had played him false , and he came down upon the sand just as the throng of bathers was at its height . In the eyes of Dragons ' Row , he immediately became an object of derision , for it was as Phebe had said , there was certainly no doubt whatever of his being extremely bow-legged , and , strong and powerful as he looked , he kept himself well away from the shock of the breaking waves . After his wonted fashion , he paddled about in the edge of the water for a few moments , then turned to walk back to the shore .