noon
It was a plucky thing for John to do , considering that his death would stop the making of the levy for the court-house that was to be recorded in a few days . But the young man 's blood tingled with joy as he jumped the court-house fence and went back to his men . There was something like a smile from Jane Mason in his joy , but chiefly it was the joy that youth has in daring , that thrilled him . And the next day , or perhaps it was the next , -- at any rate , it was a Sunday late in June , -- when an armed posse from Minneola came charging down on the town at noon , John ran from his office unseen , over the roofs of buildings upon which as a boy he had romped , and ducking through a second-story window in Frye 's store , got two kegs of powder , ran out of the back door , under the exposed piling supporting the building , put the two kegs of powder in a wooden culvert under the ammunition wagons of the Minneola men , who were battling with the town in the street , and taking a long fuse in his teeth , crawled back to the alley , lit the fuse , and ran into the street to look into the revolver of J. Lord Lee -- late of the Red Legs -- and warn him to run or be blown up with the wagons . And when the explosion came , knocking him senseless , he woke up a hero , with the town bending over him , and Minneola 's forces gone . And so John and the town had their fling together . And we who sit among our books or by our fire -- or if not that by our iron radiator exuding its pleasance and comfort -- should not sniff at that day when blood pulsed quicker and joy was keener , and life was more vivid than it is to-day .