noon
`` I certainly think it could be so classified , '' he agreed . `` I shudder to think what it would have been , however , if that tire had not halted them . We could not have reached them in time . '' Although it was not quite noon , the girls were up and dressed when the equestrians returned and were greatly interested in all that had happened . Gerald waxed eloquent as he told Julie the details , and that little girl , who hungered for adventure quite as much as her brother , hoped that if anything exciting happened again , she might be in the thick of it . Mr. Packard retired to the kitchen to advise Sing Long , the cook , that four other guests were to arrive for lunch . Although that Chinaman 's reply was merely `` Ally lite '' the American interpretation of his pleased smile would be , `` the more the merrier . ''