noon
But the moment Grandpa was waited upon , back Johnnie went to his book , and page was turned upon page as the black magic of the hateful African wafted that most perfect of palaces many a league from its original site , and separated for his own wicked purposes the loving Aladdin and his devoted Buddir al Buddoor . And then -- all of a sudden -- and for no reason that Johnnie could name , but as if some good genie of his own were watching over him , and had whispered a warning , he cast off the enthrallment of Asia , stopped dragging at his hair , started to his feet , slid the book under his collar-band , and took stock of the time . It was twelve . Indeed , the noon whistles were just beginning to blow . But they and the clock did not reassure him . He had been dimly aware , the past hour or so , of a strange state of quiet overhead . That awareness now resolved itself into a horrible fear -- the fear that , in spite of lunches put up and a clock wound to clang at four in the afternoon , the day was -- Saturday !