noon
And upon the star 's limply rising , Miss Ellsling , most tactful of leading women , went back to his cue with a change of emphasis in her reading that helped to restore him somewhat to his poise . `` It is noble , '' she repeated , `` and I feel that I am unworthy of you ! '' Counting ten slowly proved to be the proper deference to the smile , and Miss Malone was allowed to come down the stage and complete , undisturbed , her ingenue request to know what the two good people were conspiring about . Thereafter the rehearsal went on in a strange , unreal peace like that of a prairie noon in the cyclone season . `` Notice that girl ? '' old Tinker muttered , as Wanda Malone finished another ingenue question with a light laugh , as commanded by her manuscript . `` She 's frightened but she 's steady . ''