noon
Martha watched her go . `` She scarcely knows there is ground under her feet , '' she observed . `` A light heart makes easy ballast , so my father used to say . '' Cabot expressed his intention of starting for the city shortly after noon . `` Now that I know where those missing shares are , I can go with an easy conscience , '' he said . `` I came ` way down here to get them and the faster I came the farther off they were . Ha , ha !