noon
The boy `` grew up , '' rather tardily it must be confessed . His soul had not added a cubit to its stature in sunshine , gayety , and prosperity ; it took the shock of grief , hurt pride , solitude , and remorse to make a man of John Hathaway . -LSB- Illustration -RSB- It was a radiant July morning in Albion village , and when Sue first beheld it from the bedroom window at the Shaker Settlement , she had wished ardently that it might never , never grow dark , and that Jack and Fardie might be having the very same sunshine in Farnham . It was not noon yet , but experience had in some way tempered the completeness of her joy , for the marks of tears were on her pretty little face . She had neither been scolded nor punished , but she had been dragged away from a delicious play without any adequate reason . She had disappeared after breakfast , while Susanna was helping Sister Tabitha with the beds and the dishes , but as she was the most docile of children , her mother never thought of anxiety . At nine o'clock Eldress Abby took Susanna to the laundry house , and there under a spreading maple were Sue and the two youngest little Shakeresses , children of seven and eight respectively .