noon
`` Have you been here long ? '' he asked . `` Yes , sir , '' replied the elder girl . `` I 've been on duty here ever since noon , and Mary , '' laying her hand on her companion , `` was here all the morning . '' `` Has either of you seen anyone enter my bedroom ? '' `` No , sir , only yourself , sir , '' answered the first speaker , and Mary echoed her words . The prospect was uninviting at any time and to Julie , who had stared at the rows of slatternly kept backyards until she grew familiar with each battered garbage can , the sight was hateful .