noon
`` Eastshore has a nifty little fire department I 'm ready to admit , but it ca n't climb a snow bank even with the new chemical engine . '' The boys found the day unexpectedly long . Hitherto they had worked three or four hours after school and the one Saturday they had shoveled had been at the end of their task so that they had been able to quit at noon . But , although they were genuinely tired long before night -- and the noon rest had never been so appreciated ! -- not one of them suggested giving in or knocking off an hour or two earlier . They worked so steadily and to such good purpose that by half-past four , when Rosemary and Sarah appeared with hot coffee and sandwiches , the most congested area in Plummers Lane was comparatively clear . `` Gee , Rosemary , you certainly are all right ! ''