noon
`` Thought maybe you 'd gone and done it , '' said the foreman . `` Took poison or turned on the gas , or something . You was mighty blue yesterday , Mr. -- Mr. Duluth . '' With the arrival of the van he set off to pay the bills due the tradespeople in town , returning before noon with all the receipts , and something like $ 20 left over . The world did not look so dark and dreary to him now . In his mind 's eye he saw himself rehabilitated in the sight of the scoffers , prospering ere long to such an extent that not only would he be able to reclaim Phoebe , but even Nellie might be persuaded to throw herself on his neck and beg for reinstatement in his good graces . With men like Harvey the ill wind never blows long or steadily ; it blows the hardest under cover of night .