noon
That will give you a chance to look in on Molly , too , and see how she 's behaving -- and you 'll have a nice little spree besides . I 'll look after the family , and Peter can look after the cows . '' Sylvia had recovered rapidly from her illness , and her former shyness and aversion to seeing people were rapidly leaving her . She no longer lay in bed until noon , but was up with the rest of the family , insisting on doing her share in the housework , and proving a very apt pupil in learning that useful and wrongly despised art ; when callers came she always dropped in to chat with them a little while , and even the mail-carrier of the `` rural delivery , route number two , '' the errand-boy on the wagon from Harrington 's General Store , and all the agents for flavoring extracts and celluloid toilet sets and Bibles for miles around , were not infrequently found lingering on the `` back porch '' passing the time of day with her , whether they had any excuse of mail or merchandise or not . Not infrequently she went to spend the day with Mrs. Elliott or with Ruth , and to church on Sunday with all the family ; and although perhaps she was not sorry at heart that her deep mourning gave her an excuse for not attending the village `` parties '' and `` socials , '' she never said so . The Library , the Grange , and the Village Improvement Society all found her ready and eager to help them in their struggles to raise money , provide better quarters for themselves , or get up entertainments ; and the Methodist minister was the first person to meet with a flat refusal to his demands upon her purse . He was far-famed as a successful `` solicitor , '' and conceived the brilliant idea that Sylvia was probably sent by Providence to provide the needed repairs upon the church and parsonage and the increase in his own salary .