noon
Many of these acquaintances treated Nan with great kindness ; she half belonged to them , and was deeply interesting for the sake of her other ties of blood and bonds of fortune , while she took their courtesy with thankfulness , and their lack of notice with composure . If there were a shiny apple offered she was glad , but if not , she did not miss it , since her chief delight was in being the doctor 's assistant and attendant , and her eyes were always watching for chances when she might be of use . And one day , coming out from a bedroom , the doctor discovered , to his amusement , that her quick and careful fingers had folded the papers of some powders which he had left unfolded on the table . As they drove home together in the bright noon sunshine , he said , as if the question were asked for the sake of joking a little , `` What are you going to do when you grow up , Nan ? '' to which she answered gravely , as if it were the one great question of her life , `` I should like best to be a doctor . '' Strangely enough there flitted through the doctor 's mind a remembrance of the day when he had talked with Mrs. Meeker , and had looked up the lane to see the unlucky turkey whose leg had been put into splints . He had wished more than once that he had taken pains to see how the child had managed it ; but old Mrs. Thacher had reported the case to have been at least partially successful .