noon
`` Well , this family wo n't , '' declared Mary . `` He 's no ` beau , ' anyway . You 'll all have to help entertain him . '' She had not answered the note when Jack came home at noon , and she passed it to him without comment . He smiled a little over her evident disgust , and repeated in substance what Mrs. Ware had said , that she must not judge him too severely for his lack of social polish . `` He 's a diamond in the rough , Mary , '' he assured her gravely , but with a twinkle in his eyes . `` He may be one of the leading citizens of the state twenty years from now , and even if he is n't , he 's one of the few young fellows of the settlement , and a decent one at that , and you ca n't afford to snub him because he is green . ''