noon
Elmdale was then new to fame . I suppose they called it Elmdale because it had neither an elm nor a dale . It was fourteen miles from town , but its railroad transportation facilities were unique . The five-o'clock milk-train took passengers in to business every morning , and the eight-o'clock accommodation brought them home again every evening ; moreover , the noon freight stopped at Elmdale to take up passengers every other Wednesday , and it was the practice of every other train to whistle and to slack up in speed to thirty miles an hour while passing through this promising suburb . I did not care particularly for Elmdale , but Alice took a mighty fancy to it . Our twin boys -LRB- Galileo and Herschel , named after the astronomers of blessed memory ! -RRB- were now three years old , and Alice insisted that they required the pure air and the wholesome freedom of rural life .