noon
What wonder that he was unconscious of hardship and fatigue , that he counted as nothing the three days ' tramp ; the icy nights spent out under the chill stars ; the only half-satisfied hunger of a healthy boy , living on food which the dry mountain air was rapidly reducing to a powdery consistency ! He was going to College ; he was going to be a Geologist . What did he care for any paltry details by the way ? He seated himself for his noon meal , the last crumbling sandwich of his store , at the foot of a big pine-tree , just where the pass narrows to a wild ravine . As he took out the slice of bread and meat neatly wrapped about with brown paper , his thoughts reverted with a certain sore compunction to the hand that had prepared it for him . It had been his mother 's farewell service , and he somehow realized now as he had not realized at the time , how much all those careful preparations meant , to her and to himself . He remembered how , late Saturday night , she had sat mending a new rip in his best coat , and that when she pricked her finger , and a little bead of red blood had to be disposed of before she could go on with the work , he had wondered why women were always pricking their fingers when there was no need .