about noon
His past had but crept , like the dead , back to God who gave it ; in better shape it would be his by and by ! Already he had begun to foreshadow this truth : God would keep it for him . He had set out before the sun was up , for he would not be met by friends or acquaintances . Avoiding the well-known farmhouses and occasional village , he took his way up the river , and about noon came to a hamlet where no one knew him -- a cluster of straw-roofed cottages , low and white , with two little windows each . He walked straight through it not meaning to stop ; but , spying in front of the last cottage a rough stone seat under a low , widespreading elder tree , was tempted to sit down and rest a little . The day was now hot , and the shadow of the tree inviting . He had but seated himself when a woman came to the door of the cottage , looked at him for a moment , and probably thinking him , from his bare feet , poorer than he was , said -- `` Wad ye like a drink ? ''