noon
The division was clean and exact , and it made two parties , an Angelo party and a Luigi party . The twins had suddenly become popular idols along with Pudd ` nhead Wilson , and haloed with a glory as intense as his . The children talked the duel all the way to Sunday-school , their elders talked it all the way to church , the choir discussed it behind their red curtain , it usurped the place of pious thought in the `` nigger gallery . '' By noon the doctor had added the news , and spread it , that Count Angelo , in spite of his wound and all warnings and supplications , was resolute in his determination to be baptized at the hour appointed . This swept the town like wildfire , and mightily reinforced the enthusiasm of the Angelo faction , who said , `` If any doubted that it was moral courage that took him from the field , what have they to say now ! '' Still the excitement grew . All the morning it was traveling countryward , toward all points of the compass ; so , whereas before only the farmers and their wives were intending to come and witness the remarkable baptism , a general holiday was now proclaimed and the children and negroes admitted to the privileges of the occasion .