noon
Tuesday morning , Mr. Ball came in with darkened brows , and three extra switches . Riley , Berry , and Holliday were called up as soon as school began . They had pigeon pot-pie for dinner , but they also had sore backs for three days , and Bob laughingly said that he knew just how a pigeon felt when it was basted . The day after the whipping and the pigeon pot-pie , when the sun shone warm at noon , the fire was allowed to go down in the stove . All were at play in the sunshine , excepting Columbus Risdale , who sat solitary , like a disconsolate screech-owl , in one corner of the room . Riley and Ben Berry , still smarting from yesterday , entered , and without observing Lummy 's presence , proceeded to put some gunpowder in the stove , taking pains to surround it with cool ashes , so that it should not explode until the stirring of the fire , as the chill of the afternoon should come on . When they had finished this dangerous transaction , they discovered the presence of Columbus in his corner , looking at them with large-eyed wonder and alarm .