noon
He lived on the other side of B -- , in the country , and was not much of a gossip . But he had ways of finding out about what was going on when he wanted to . A word lightly cast forth at the club table where he always lunched , and he could get a clue to almost anything of current interest . And that noon , after he had first seen Mrs. Clark and her niece , my friend Edsall happened to be at the judge 's table . Orcutt asked him what he knew about the Clark property in Alton . Edsall happened to know almost all of importance that has been told here and more . He knew of the movement on foot to develop the property , so long held in idleness , but he did not know who were the persons interested .