noon
One sunny afternoon in school , Cecily and Kitty Marr asked and received permission to sit out on the side bench before the open window , where the cool breeze swept in from the green fields beyond . To sit on this bench was always considered a treat , and was only allowed as a reward of merit ; but Cecily and Kitty had another reason for wishing to sit there . Kitty had read in a magazine that sun-baths were good for the hair ; so both she and Cecily tossed their long braids over the window-sill and let them hang there in the broiling sun-shine . And while Cecily sat thus , diligently working a fraction sum on her slate , that base Cyrus asked permission to go out , having previously borrowed a pair of scissors from one of the big girls who did fancy work at the noon recess . Outside , Cyrus sneaked up close to the window and cut off a piece of Cecily 's hair . This rape of the lock did not produce quite such terrible consequences as the more famous one in Pope 's poem , but Cecily 's soul was no less agitated than Belinda 's . She cried all the way home from school about it , and only checked her tears when Dan declared he 'd fight Cyrus and make him give it up .