noon
`` I know , '' was the mother 's soft answer . `` They are both thoroughbreds , '' said Ben , watching them admiringly . `` Wait till you see her to-night in her first ball dress , '' whispered Mrs. Lenoir . At noon Ben and Phil strolled to the polling-place to watch the progress of the first election under negro rule . The Square was jammed with shouting , jostling , perspiring negroes , men , women , and children . The day was warm , and the African odour was supreme even in the open air . A crowd of two hundred were packed around a peddler 's box .