noon
When the meal was over he carried her from her bed to the old oak chair , in which she managed to keep upright among her pillows . Her gallant spirit was still youthful and undaunted , and the many infirmities of her body were powerless to distort the cheerful memories behind her sightless eyes . Leaving her presently , after a careless chat about the foibles of Bolivar Blake , he took his hoe from an outhouse and went to `` grub '' the young weeds from the tobacco , which had now reached its luxuriant August height . By noon his day 's work on the crop was over , and he was resting for a moment in the shadow of a locust tree by the fence , when he heard rapid footsteps approaching in the new road , and Bill Fletcher threw himself over the crumbling rails and came panting into the strip of shade . At sight of the man 's face Christopher flung his hoe out into the field , where it bore down a giant plant , and bracing his body against the tree , prepared himself to withstand the shock of the first blow ; but the other , after glaring at him for a breathless instant , fell back and rapped out a single thundering oath . `` You hell-hound ! This is all your doing ! ''