noon
It would be the face of a man whom one jury would hang upon the merest suspicion ; for whom another would return a verdict of `` not guilty '' no matter what the nature of his proved crimes ; and whether the face was beautiful or hideous would be a matter of dispute for the ages . Upon arriving at No. 17 McBurney Place , and having climbed two flights of stairs , the door of her studio was opened before she could lay hand to the knob , and a very small boy with very big eyes , and no more flesh upon his bones than served to distinguish him from a living skeleton , appeared on the threshold , smiling , you may say , from head to foot . He was dressed in a blue suit with bobbed tails and a double row of bright brass buttons down the front , and when she had gathered him from the gutter in which he had reached to his present stunted stature , a child half gone in pneumonia , he had told her that his name , his whole name , was `` Bubbles '' and nothing but `` Bubbles . '' `` Good morning , Miss Barbara , '' he said ; `` the plumber 's bin and gone , and the feller from the hardware store has swore hell be around before noon to fix the new knobs in the doors . '' `` Good ! '' said Barbara . `` Well done , Bubbles . ''