noon
And she struck him on the face with her clenched fist . * * * * * Then she went out without a word , ran down the stairs , out into the blaze of Leicester Square , made for the dark streets and plunged into the night ... . INTERMEZZO The artistes ' special left Euston at noon that Sunday . The Three Graces were the first to arrive ; then the waiting-rooms , until lately deserted , began to fill with silent groups of five or six persons at a time , who had , no doubt , arranged the night before , at the theater , to travel together and avail themselves of the reduction allowed to members of the M. H. A. R. A. : a reduction of at least a third , provided there were five in the party . They now swarmed into the station from every side : pale faces , under huge feathers ; wrists hooped round with bangles ; breasts bristling with gollywogs and lucky charms . There were little girls with bows over their ears , dressed in plush and velvet and following their Pas and Mas .