noon
before
Wo n't she be surprised ? '' Mrs. Pennell wondered a little that Ruth was in such good spirits the rest of the day , after the disappearance of the candy , and that she was so ready to go to bed at an hour earlier than the usual time . When Gilbert took the pan of candy-molds from the open window of Mrs. Pennell 's kitchen , and , reaching in captured the heart-shaped box from the table , his only intention was to keep them just long enough to puzzle Ruth and Winifred and then return them . When the girls came back to the kitchen he had run into the shed , and set box and pan in the open drawer of the work-bench and closed it quickly , and had then gone home to attend to some garden work , meaning to come back in an hour at the longest ; but his mother had sent him on an errand , and it was noon before Gilbert remembered the candy ; and then Winifred was telling the story of its disappearance : `` You would n't think any one would be so mean as to take our candy , '' she concluded , and Gilbert felt his face flush uncomfortably , and realized that it was going to be very difficult to explain what he had intended for a joke to Ruth and Winifred . In some way he must get that candy and box back to the place from which he had taken it , or else tell the girls what he had done ; and this last alternative would be unpleasant . All that afternoon he was on the alert for a chance to slip into the Pennells ' garden , enter the shed and rescue the hidden sweets ; but the day was warm and pleasant , and Ruth and Winifred with their dolls and Hero were out-of-doors playing about in the shade of the maple tree until it was too late for Gilbert to carry out his plan ; so that he was as uneasy and troubled as Ruth or Winifred over the missing candy , and not until evening could he think of any way to recover it . He was just closing the stable for the night when he noticed the shallow basket of woven grass and twigs which Winifred had made on the eventful afternoon 's journey along the river road .