noon
The sky was cloudless and of a transcendent blue . The air was soft as the air of June . Draxy 's young friends had decorated the church with evergreens and clematis vines ; and on each side of the communion-table were tall sheaves of purple asters and golden-rod . Two children were to be baptized at noon , and on a little table , at the right of the pulpit , stood the small silver baptismal font , wreathed with white asters and the pale feathery green of the clematis seed . When Draxy walked up the aisle leaning on her father 's arm , wearing the same white dress she had worn on Sundays all summer , it can not be denied that there were sighs of disappointment in some of the pews . The people had hoped for something more . Draxy had kept her own counsel on this point closely , replying to all inquiries as to what she would wear , `` White , of course , '' but replying in such a tone that no one had quite dared to ask more , and there had even been those in the parish who `` reckoned '' that she would n't `` be satisfied with anythin ' less than white satin . ''