noon
I had never seen a fair of any consequence , and my curiosity was Powerfully awakened by this bustle of preparation . I gazed with respect and wonder at the vagrant personages who accompanied these caravans . I loitered about the village inn , listening with curiosity and delight to the slang talk and cant jokes of the showmen and their followers ; and I felt an eager desire to witness this fair , which my fancy decked out as something wonderfully fine . A holyday afternoon presented , when I could be absent from the school from noon until evening . A wagon was going from the village to the fair . I could not resist the temptation , nor the eloquence of Tom Dribble , who was a truant to the very heart 's core . We hired seats , and set off full of boyish expectation .