noon
`` Take this seat , Alma , '' said Miss Joslyn ; and the little girl obeyed , while Ada Singer , the scholar directly behind her , nudged her friend , Lucy Berry , and mimicked the stranger 's surprised way of looking around the room . The first day in a new school is an ordeal to most children , but Alma felt no fear or strangeness , and gazed about her , well pleased with her novel surroundings , and her innocent pleasure was a source of great amusement to Ada . `` Is n't she queer-looking ? '' she asked of Lucy , as at noon they perched on the window-sill in the dressing-room , where they always ate their lunch together . `` Yes , she has such big eyes , '' assented Lucy . `` Who is she ? '' `` Why , her mother has just come to work in my father 's factory .