noon
Somehow I seemed to know that that day was going to turn out badly for me . It may have been liver or a chill , but it was certainly not the weather . The morning was perfect , the most glorious of a glorious summer . There was a haze over the valley and out to sea which suggested a warm noon , when the sun should have begun the serious duties of the day . The birds were singing in the trees and breakfasting on the lawn , while Edwin , seated on one of the flower beds , watched them with the eye of a connoisseur . Occasionally , when a sparrow hopped in his direction , he would make a sudden spring , and the bird would fly away to the other side of the lawn . I had never seen Edwin catch a sparrow .