noon
`` Tom is a nice boy . '' `` Quite right , '' agreed Uncle John . `` I hope we shall meet no worse fellows than Tom Horton . '' At noon they were served a modest luncheon in their rooms , for Signor Floriano , having sent his important papers to a place of safety , had resolved to stick to his hotel and do his duty by any guests that chose to remain with him in defiance of the existent conditions . He had succeeded in retaining a few servants who had more courage than those that had stampeded at the first alarm , and while the hotel service for the next few days was very inadequate , no one was liable to suffer any great privation . During the afternoon the gloom grew denser than before , while thicker than ever fell the rain of ashes . This was the worst day Naples experienced during the great eruption , and Uncle John and his nieces were content to keep their rooms and live in the glare of electric lights .