noon
Neither man nor dog can tell what agonies he suffered ; and doubtless his tortures of mind about duty unperformed were the worst of all . These things are out of human knowledge in its present unsympathetic state . Enough that poor Jowler came home at last , with his ribs all up and his tail very low . Like friends who have come together again , almost from the jaws of death , we sat in the sunny noon , and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves . The trees above us looked proud and cheerful , laying aside the mere frippery of leaves with a good grace and contented arms , and a surety of having quite enough next spring . Much of the fruity wealth of autumn still was clustering in our sight , heavily fetching the arched bough down to lessen the fall , when fall they must . And against the golden leaves of maple behind the unpretending roof a special wreath of blue shone like a climbing Ipomaea .