noon
I was in love with life , with New Bedford , and with Polly Briggs . I had been in love before but never with a young lady who worked in a shop , and I found that loving a lady so occupied gives one a tremendous advantage . For when you call she must always be at home , nor can she plead another engagement . So , before noon , knowing she could not deny herself , I was again at Hatchardson 's , purchasing more postal-cards . But Miss Briggs was not deceived . Nor apparently was any one else . The BEDFORD MERCURY had told how , the previous evening , Frederick Fitzgibbon , an automobile salesman from New York , had been knocked out by an automobile while saving Miss Polly Briggs from a similar fate ; and Mr. Hatchardson and all the old ladies who were in the bookstore making purchases congratulated me .