noon
The amiable Senator and his friend Beals examined critically the little Gothic chapel , which had been a gift to his native town by the Colonel , as well as the stone library at the other end of the green . `` Nice idea of Price , '' the Senator was saying , `` handsome buildings -- pleasant little village , '' and he moved in the direction of Miss Pallanton , who was alone . Down below in the valley , on the railroad siding , lay the special train that had brought most of the guests from New York that morning . The engine emitted little puffs of white smoke in the still noon , ready to carry its load back to the city after the breakfast . About the library steps were the carriages of those who had driven over from neighboring towns ; the whole village had a disturbed and festal air . The procession was straggling across the village street through the stile and into the meadow , tramping down the thick young grass , up the slope to the comfortable old white house that opened its broad verandas like hospitable arms . The President of the Atlantic and Pacific , deserted by the Senator , had offered his arm to a stern old lady with knotty hands partly concealed in lace gloves .