noon
Mrs. Atterbury was on the veranda , and stepped down to the carriage to welcome the guest . She greeted him with the affectionate cordiality of a mother , and asked : `` How have you borne the fatigue ? I hope Rosa has n't let you talk ? '' `` If I may speak now it will be to bear testimony that I have been made a mummy since noon . I have n't been permitted to ask the local habitation or name of the scenic delights that have made the journey a panorama of beauty and my guide a tyrant , to whom , by comparison , Caligula was a tender master ! '' `` Since you slept most of the way you must have dreamed the beauty , as you certainly have invented the tyrant , '' Rosa retorted , as the brawny servants lifted Jack bodily and carried him up the three steps and into the sitting-room . `` Your quarters are next to my son 's , if you think you can endure the constant outbreaks of that locality .