noon
The four French windows were uncurtained , and the inside shutters folded back , so that the silent clerks might have the benefit of every ray of daylight filtering wanly through Mercer 's murky air . A long table stood in the middle of the room ; generally it was covered with blue-prints , or the usual impedimenta of an office . But it was not an office table ; it was of mahogany , scratched and dim to be sure , but matching the ancient claw-footed sideboard whose top was littered with letter files , silver teapots and sugar-bowls , and stacks of newspapers . Three times a day one end of this table was cleared , and the early breakfast , or the noon dinner , or the rather heavy supper eaten rapidly and for the most part in silence . Mrs. Maitland was silent because she was absorbed in thought ; Nannie and Blair were silent because they were afraid to talk . But the two children gave a touch of humanness to the ruthless room , which , indeed , poor little Blair had some excuse for calling a `` pigsty . '' `` When I 'm big , '' Blair announced one afternoon after school , `` I 'll have a bunch of flowers on the table , like your mother does ; you see if I do n't !