noon
He could hear Mary crying , and putting in a kindly word for him from time to time . He began to have a nobler opinion of himself than ever before . Still , he was sufficiently touched by his aunt 's grief to long to rush out from under the bed and overwhelm her with joy -- and the theatrical gorgeousness of the thing appealed strongly to his nature , too , but he resisted and lay still . He went on listening , and gathered by odds and ends that it was conjectured at first that the boys had got drowned while taking a swim ; then the small raft had been missed ; next , certain boys said the missing lads had promised that the village should `` hear something '' soon ; the wise-heads had `` put this and that together '' and decided that the lads had gone off on that raft and would turn up at the next town below , presently ; but toward noon the raft had been found , lodged against the Missouri shore some five or six miles below the village -- and then hope perished ; they must be drowned , else hunger would have driven them home by nightfall if not sooner . It was believed that the search for the bodies had been a fruitless effort merely because the drowning must have occurred in mid-channel , since the boys , being good swimmers , would otherwise have escaped to shore . This was Wednesday night . If the bodies continued missing until Sunday , all hope would be given over , and the funerals would be preached on that morning .