noon
She glanced at him as she passed , and was surprised for a second to find him gazing at her with a curious intentness . He lowered his eyes the moment they met hers , and she passed on , wondering what there was about her to excite his interest . Columbus was waiting with pathetic patience to be taken for a walk , and overpoweringly hot though it was she had not the heart to keep him any longer . But she could not face the full blaze of noon on the shore , and she turned back up the shady church lane with a vague memory of having seen a stile at the entrance of a wood somewhere along its winding length . The church-goers had dispersed by that time , but at the gate of the schoolhouse which was a few yards above the church she saw a group of boys waiting clamorously , and just as she found her stile she saw Green come out dressed in flannels with a bath-towel round his neck . The boys swarmed all about him like a crowd of excited puppies , and Juliet turned into the wood with a smile . So he had refused the squire 's invitation to luncheon !