midday
All during the cloudy , overcast day he strained his eyes ahead . Jamison could make nothing of him . In the end he had to leave Bell to his moody waiting . * * * * * The morning passed , and midday , and a long afternoon . Three times Bell came restlessly back to the engine and tried to coax more speed out of it . But when darkness fell the town was still not in sight . They kept on , then , steering by the stars with the motor putt-putt-putting sturdily away in the stern .