midday
Miss Blake turned her head . `` There are always consequences , '' she said over her shoulder in a voice that was very low and serious . The storm lasted for three days and then came a term of perfect weather . Under foot the snow was packed hard and tight into a compact mass over a bed of ice , and overhead the sun shone out from a cloudless sky , while the air was so keen that it kept the mercury very close to the zero mark even at midday . `` How is this for high ? '' demanded Ruth exultantly , as she and Nan met toward the end of the week , the first time they had seen each other since that stormy day when the subject of the sleigh-ride had first been broached to Miss Blake . `` The weather , you mean ?