noon
In their attention to Father Ephraim , their eyes were turned from Martha Pierson , who grew paler and paler , unnoticed even by Adam Colburn . He , indeed , had withdrawn his hand from hers , and folded his arms with a sense of satisfied ambition . But paler and paler grew Martha by his side , till , like a corpse in its burial clothes , she sank down at the feet of her early lover ; for , after many trials firmly borne , her heart could endure the weight of its desolate agony no longer . At noon of on autumnal day , more than two centuries ago , the English colors were displayed by the standard-bearer of the Salem trainband , which had mustered for martial exercise under the orders of John Endicott . It was a period when the religious exiles were accustomed often to buckle on their armor , and practise the handling of their weapons of war . Since the first settlement of New England , its prospects had never been so dismal . The dissensions between Charles the First and his subjects were then , and for several years afterwards , confined to the floor of Parliament .