noon
Little Katy-did he called her , looking fondly into her bright , pretty face , and thinking how terrible it would be to see that face shadowed with pain and care . Somehow , of late , Uncle Ephraim was always thinking of such a calamity as more than possible for Katy , and when that night she knelt beside him , his voice was full of pleading earnestness as he prayed that God would keep them all in safety , and bring to none of them more grief , more suffering , than was necessary to purify them for His own . `` Purified by suffering '' came involuntarily into Katy 's mind as she listened , and then remembered the talk down in the meadow , when she sat on the rock beneath the butternut tree . But Katy was far too thoughtless yet for anything serious to abide with her long ; and the world , while it held Wilford Cameron as he seemed to her now , was too full of joy for her to be sad , and so she arose from her knees , thinking only how long it would be before to-morrow noon , wondering if Wilford would surely be there next time their evening prayers were said , and if he would notice Uncle Ephraim 's shocking grammar ! Much surprise was expressed by all the Cameron family , save the mother , when told that instead of accompanying them to New York , Wilford would take another route , and one directly out of his way ; while , what was stranger than all , he did not know when he should be home ; it would depend upon circumstances , he said , evincing so much annoyance at being questioned with regard to his movements , that the quick-witted Juno readily divined that there was some girl in the matter , teasing him unmercifully to tell her who she was , and what the fair one was like . `` Do n't , for pity 's sake , bring us a verdant specimen , '' she said , as she at last bade him good-by , and turned her attention to Mark Ray , her brother 's partner , who had been with them at Newport , and whom she was bending all her energies to captivate . With his sister 's bantering words ringing in his ears , Wilford kept on his way until the last change was made , and when he stopped again it would be at Silverton .