About noon
Suddenly her eyes closed , a convulsive little tremor swept her , she pressed both clasped hands against his lips , her own moved , but no words came -- only a long , sweet , soundless sigh , soft as the breeze that stirs the crimson maple buds when the snows of spring at last begin to melt . From a dark corner under the piano Clarence watched them furtively . -LSB- Illustration -RSB- _ Showing What Comes of Disobedience , Rosium , and Flour-Paste _ About noon Bushwyck Carr bounced into the gymnasium , where the triplets had just finished their fencing lesson . `` Did any of you three go into the laboratory this morning ? '' he demanded , his voice terminating in a sort of musical bellow , like the blast of a mellow French horn on a touring car . The triplets -- Flavilla , Drusilla , and Sybilla -- all clothed precisely alike in knee kilts , plastrons , gauntlets and masks , came to attention , saluting their parent with their foils .