noon
He went to the barn to see his old mare and the Major 's horses , and to the kennels , where the fox-hounds reared against the palings and sniffed at him curiously ; he strolled about the quarters , where the little pickaninnies were playing , and out to the fields , where the servants were at work under the overseer , Jerome Conners , a tall , thin man with shrewd eyes , a sour , sullen face , and protruding upper teeth . One of the few smiles that ever came to that face came now when the overseer saw the little mountaineer . By and by Chad got one of the `` hands '' to let him take hold of the plough and go once around the field , and the boy handled the plough like a veteran , so that the others watched him , and the negro grinned , when he came back , and said `` You sutinly can plough fer a fac ' ! '' He was lonesome by noon and had a lonely dinner , during which he could scarcely realize that it was really he -- Chad -- Chad sitting up at the table alone and being respectfully waited on by a kinky-headed little negro girl -- called Thanky-ma ` am because she was born on Thanksgiving day -- and he wondered what the Turners would think if they could see him now -- and the school-master . Where was the school-master ? He began to be sorry that he had n't gone to town to try to find him . Perhaps the Major would see him -- but how would the Major know the school-master ?