noon
`` I promise ! '' Cora gave her a quick embrace , a quick kiss , and , dry-eyed , ran out of the room , down the stairs , and out of the house . She walked briskly down Corliss Street . It was a clear day , bright noon , with an exhilarating tang in the air , and a sky so glorious that people outdoors were continually conscious of the blue overhead , and looked up at it often . An autumnal cheerfulness was abroad , and pedestrians showed it in their quickened steps , in their enlivened eyes , and frequent smiles , and in the colour of their faces . But none showed more colour or a gayer look than Cora . She encountered many whom she knew , for it was indeed a day to be stirring , and she nodded and smiled her way all down the long street , thinking of what these greeted people would say to-morrow . ''