noon
Perhaps he could get away in a few days and run down to New York to see her . He began to drum absently on the desk with his fingers , turning over in his mind some details in the arrangement of the chapel which he had never settled to his satisfaction . Presently he realised that something was lacking , and reaching forward , he took a cigar from the open box that stood on the revolving bookcase near by . It was noon when the mayor returned to the City Hall . On the steps , as he entered , stood a figure long familiar in the streets of Warwick , a blind news-vender , with his cane and smoked glasses and bundle of papers . In the morning , he might be seen at the railroad station , a grotesque and patient form , holding out his papers silently in the direction of the shuffling feet that passed by . He never cried his wares , but his appeal was more compelling than the noisy shouts of his more fortunate competitors .