noon
When a boy ponders and worries over something for which he dares not ask an explanation , he is apt to become sullen and preoccupied . On the day that the long-suffering landlord served notice , Dan told no one of his mother 's absence . Behind closed doors he packed what things he could , clumsily tying the rest of the household goods in the bedclothes . At noon the new tenant arrived and , in order to get his own things in , obligingly assisted in moving Dan 's out . It was then and then only that the news had gone abroad . For three hours now the worldly possessions of the dubious Mrs. Lewis had lain exposed on the pavement , and for three hours Dan had sat beside them keeping guard . From every tenement window inquisitive eyes watched each stage of the proceeding , and voluble tongues discussed every phase of the situation .