the noon sun
He picked up a bit of bark and tossed it into the little pool . `` I bet you Ridge will be glad to get back to the Place , '' he said . Midsummer dust lay ankle-deep in the road , white and hot . The asphalt sidewalk baked in the noon sun , the leaves hung motionless from the full trees ; only the breathless nasturtiums flickered like flames along the fences , for the other flowers wilted in the glare . Caroline , hatless and happy as a lizard in the relentless heat , spun along on her bicycle , the only bit of movement on all the long stretch of the road . The householders had all retired behind their green blinds ; even New England yielded to August 's imperious _ siesta _ , and it might have been a deserted village , empty and mysterious , through which she glided . By little and little she grew to feel this ; her feet moved more and more slowly on the pedals , her brows knitted as the great idea grew .