noon
`` I ai n't bringing _ her _ any flowers , '' she soliloquized . She trudged soberly ahead . As she reached the summit of the hill several children called to her . From three roads came other children , most of them carrying baskets or kettles filled with the noon lunch . All were eager for the opening of school , anxious to `` see the new teacher once . '' From the farm nearest the schoolhouse Phares Eby had come for his last year in the rural school . From the little cottage on the adjoining farm David Eby came whistling down the road .