noon
She would see her uncle at dinner-time . Foss River had not yet risen to the civilized state of late dinners and indigestion . Early rising and hard work demanded early meals and hearty feeding . Dinner generally occurred at noon -- an hour at which European society thinks of taking its _ déjeuner _ . By rising late society can thus avoid what little fresh , wholesome air there is to be obtained in a large city . Civilization jibs at early rising . Foss River was still a wild and savage country .