noon
He felt no curiosity as to the names of the places he passed through . Why should the names of towns and villages strung on a road to nowhere in particular , interest him ? He did , however , long afterward , come to know the name of this village , and its topographical relations : the place itself was branded on his brain . He entered it in the glow of a hot noon , and had walked nearly through it without meeting any one , for it was the dinner-hour , and savoury odours filled the air , when a little girl came from a neat house , and ran farther down the street . He was very tired , very dusty , had eaten nothing that day , had begun to despair of work , and was wishing himself clear of the houses that he might throw himself down . But something in the look of the child made him quicken his weary step as he followed her . He overtook her , passed her , and saw her face .