noon
We , too , rejoiced , for we had missed her sadly . My mother was so happy that she planned a little intimate feast to celebrate the child 's return . I remember how calm and mild an evening it was . At noon there had been a refreshing shower , and the air was deliciously pure and clear , and full of wet woodsy scents . The raindrops fringing the bushes became prisms , a spiderweb was a fairy foot-bridge ; and all our birds , leaving for a moment such household torments as squalling insatiable mouths that must be filled , became jubilant choristers . `` The opulent dyepots of the angels '' had been emptied lavishly across the sky , and the old Parish House lay steeped in a serene and heavenly glow , every window glittering diamond-bright to the west . Next door Miss Sally Ruth was feeding and scolding her cooing pigeons , which fluttered about her , lighting upon her shoulder , surrounding her with a bright-colored living cloud ; the judge 's black cat Panch lay along the Mayne side of the fence and blinked at them regretfully with his slanting emerald eyes .