noon
She took the shipping bill from him with her fingertips , reckoned the charges , and received the money without a word , pushing a few pieces of silver toward him upon the table . As he bent to pick them up clawing unpleasantly with vile finger-nails -- she glanced at him contemptuously , looked again more attentively , pursed her lips with one corner between her teeth , and when he had clawed the last dime off the smooth surface of the table , she spoke to him as if he were not the reptile she considered him , but a live human . `` Horribly hot , is n't it ? I wish _ I _ could sleep till noon . It would make the days shorter , anyway . '' `` I opened up the store , and then I went back to bed , '' Saunders replied limply . `` Just got up when the freight pulled in .