noon
Be that as it may , she paused , for no reason whatever as far as she could tell , and carefully took one dozen eggs from the basket and hid them under some bushes by the road ! Having done this she went forward so blithely and lightly that one might have thought her load had been considerably eased . She appeared before Calvin Merrivale , presently , like a refreshing apparition from vacancy . It was high noon and Merrivale was dozing in a chair by the rusty stove , in which a fire , prepared against the evening chill , was already burning . `` How-de , Mister Merrivale ? '' Calvin sprang to his feet . `` If it ai n't lil ' Nella-Rose .