noon
`` Whew ! I can just imagine it , '' declared Thad , `` and I wager , now , it must have been some exciting while it lasted . '' Chatting in this way they tramped on through the pine woods , heading in a direct line for the distant cabin of Cale Martin , whose wife had long since been dead , so that with Little Lina also gone , the old woodsman had lived alone for more than a year , always nursing his grievance against Jim Hasty . When noon came , and they stopped a little while to refresh themselves with some of the food carried along in Thad 's haversack , Jim announced that they must be more than half way to their destination . Thad looked into the face of the guide frequently , wondering if Jim 's heart was beginning to fail him the closer he drew to the implacable giant who had uttered such ferocious threats against his new son-in-law ; but the only thing he did notice was a smile of supreme confidence whenever Jim happened to put up his hand to touch the breast of his coat , about the place where an inner pocket would be . And from this Thad understood that the other had the fullest confidence that the message he was bearing to Lina 's father , the olive branch he meant to extend to Old Cale , was sure to work as she had intended it should . It was about an hour and more , possibly two , after the noon halt , that Thad saw Jim come to a stop , and start to sniff the air suspiciously .