midday
Train 's goin ' in fifteen minutes . Better hustle . '' Next noon Scattergood was in his usual place on the piazza of his store when the train came in . Presently Mr. Castle , president of the G. & B. , came into view , and Scattergood closed his eyes as if enjoying a midday snooze . Mr. Castle approached , stopped , regarded Scattergood with a pucker of his thin lips , and said to himself that the man must be an accident . It was one of Scattergood 's most valuable qualities that his appearance and manner gave that opinion to people , even when they had suffered discomfiture at his hands . Mr. Castle coughed , and Scattergood opened his eyes sleepily and peered over the rolls of fat that were his cheeks .