noon
Impatience seized upon Murray . He wanted this little neighbor 's half-hour to be up , so that he could go in and watch the clock . He wanted Sheelah to come out here , for that would mean it was ten o'clock ; she always came at ten . He wanted it to be noon , to be afternoon , to be _ night ! _ The most beautiful time in his rather monotonous little life was down there at the foot of the day , and he was creeping towards it on the lagging hours . He was like a little traveller on a dreary plain , with the first ecstatic glimpse of a hill ahead . Murray in his childish way had been in love a long time , but he had never got very near his dear lady .