noon
The Major walked abroad throughout the fields . As he drew near , the negroes hushed their songs and their swaggering talk . They bowed respectfully to him and to one another whispered his affliction . At noon , when he returned home , the housekeeper told him that his wife was away . He sat down in the library to wait for her . Looking out he saw Sallie Pruitt carrying a jug across the yard . A few moments later he asked for Tom and was told that he had just left the house .