noon
I fancy she will be too happy at learning her boy is innocent to hold any grudge against her wretched old aunt . '' `` Thank you , '' said Fred , laughing ; `` I do feel kind of hungry now . Just knowing what bully good news I 've got for Bris -- I mean Andy -- seems to give me an appetite . I 'll get there just in time to sit down with mother and Kate ; because father does n't come home at noon from the works . '' `` And , Fred , believe me when I say that I 'll never forget what you 've done for me and mine , '' were the parting words of the old spinster , as she squeezed the boy 's hand . `` I 'm glad , because I just know you 'll make it all up with Bris -- that is , Andy , '' he said ; and she nodded her head in the affirmative . And at the lunch table , after making them promise that it should go no further than the head of the Fenton family , Fred interested his mother and sister by a recital of the strange case of the disappearing opals .