noon
He looked up anxiously at the clock , at intervals , and seemed to be impatient for the noon hour to arrive . He thought Ralph would come then to his dinner . He wondered that the boy should go away and leave him for so long a time alone in his illness . The noon hour came , but Ralph did not come . Andy Gilgallon returned and tried to divert the man 's mind with stories of the fire , but the attempt was in vain . At one o'clock they made a pretence of sending Mrs. Maloney 's little girl to look for Ralph , in order to quiet Bachelor Billy 's growing apprehension . But he remained very anxious and ill at ease .