noon
After this I want to have it understood I 'm not going to have any interference in my business . '' He walked to the door and turned for a parting defiance . `` Damned if I will . '' Mrs. Hornblower 's attack of hysterics occupied Persis till noon . She looked pale and heavy-eyed as she alighted from her car at her own door . She was about to enter when an object on the lawn caught her eye . Tacked to an upright stake driven into the turf , was a flapping piece of brown paper on which appeared straggling letters , executed in colored chalk .