noon
When Frank Shabata got home that night , he found Emil 's mare in his stable . Such an impertinence amazed him . Like everybody else , Frank had had an exciting day . Since noon he had been drinking too much , and he was in a bad temper . He talked bitterly to himself while he put his own horse away , and as he went up the path and saw that the house was dark he felt an added sense of injury . He approached quietly and listened on the doorstep . Hearing nothing , he opened the kitchen door and went softly from one room to another .