noon
It was evident she knew little of what she had done , but at the moment Sam did not care . He was again a bargainer , ready to take an advantage . Vaguely he felt that he might be bargaining for an end in life , for purpose to come into his own life . Sam went quietly down the stone steps and along the little street at the brow of the hill to the car tracks , and at noon was waiting in an automobile outside the door of the schoolhouse when the children came out . He drove across the city to the Union Station , the three children accepting him and all he did without question . At the station they found the man from the hotel with the trunks and with three bright new suit cases . Sam went to the express office and putting several bills into an envelope sealed and sent it to the woman while the three children walked up and down in the train shed carrying the cases , aglow with the pride of them .