noon
It always makes me think of that story . '' When the fence was made secure , the two rode away to look after the cattle . And if a Shadow rode beside them , it was mercifully unseen , and in nowise dimming to the clear light of the spring day . It was high noon when they reached Wykerton , where Hans Wyker still fed the traveling public , although the flourishing hotel where Virginia Aydelot first met John Jacobs had disappeared . The eating-place behind the general store room was divided into two parts , a blind partition wall cutting off a narrow section across the farther end . Ordinary diners went through the store into the dining room and were supplied from the long kitchen running parallel with this room . There were some guests , however , who entered the farther room by a rear door and were likewise supplied from the kitchen on the side .