noons
They retreated before the power of her fireside traditions of right thinking and true living which she had learned in her humble mountain home . It had come to be a dwelling of comfortable aspect , cared for in the absence of the young couple by a thrifty hired housekeeper , a widowed cousin , and here they spent the off-seasons when the circus company went into winter quarters . Repairs had been instituted , several rooms were added , and a wide veranda replaced the rickety little porch and gave upon a noble prospect of mountain and valley and river . Here on sunshiny noons in the good Saint Martin 's summer the old gran ` dad loved to sit , blithe and hearty , chirping away the soft unseasonable December days . Sometimes in the plenitude of content he would give Valeria a meaning glance and mutter `` Oh , leetle _ Owel ! _ Oh , leetle _ Owel ! _ '' and then break into laughter that must needs pause to let him wipe his eyes .