noon
She did it with especial care . It was meet to have things seemly in the house of the dead . And every time she glanced at Jim she repressed the desire to fling herself on his breast and cry out the anguish that consumed her . At noon she brought the children home to dinner , and afterwards Jim taught them to throw the lasso and played buffalo with them . Alida did not trust herself to watch them ; she stayed in the kitchen and saw the sunbeam grow pale with the waning of the day , the day whose minutes dragged like lead , yet had rushed from her , leaving her the night to face . At sundown she cooked supper , but she no longer knew what she did . A crazy agility had taken possession of her and she spun about the kitchen , doing the same errand many times , finding herself doing always something different from that she had set about doing .