noon
Consoled by the prospect of Effie 's satisfaction , Amy departed quite cheerfully , and Mrs. Ashe was spared the pain of seeing her only child in tears on the first evening of their reunion . But Amy talked so constantly of Katy , and seemed to love her so much , that it put a plan into her mother 's head which led to important results , as the next chapter will show . It is a curious fact , and makes life very interesting , that , generally speaking , none of us have any expectation that things are going to happen till the very moment when they do happen . We wake up some morning with no idea that a great happiness is at hand , and before night it has come , and all the world is changed for us ; or we wake bright and cheerful , with never a guess that clouds of sorrow are lowering in our sky , to put all the sunshine out for a while , and before noon all is dark . Nothing whispers of either the joy or the grief . No instinct bids us to delay or to hasten the opening of the letter or telegram , or the lifting of the latch of the door at which stands the messenger of good or ill . And because it may be , and often is , happy tidings that come , and joyful things which happen , each fresh day as it dawns upon us is like an unread story , full of possible interest and adventure , to be made ours as soon as we have cut the pages and begun to read .