twelve o'clock
The preceding winter had been remarkably severe , the snow drifting to a great depth , and the frost continuing for an unexampled period , and the summer following was as noteworthy for its extreme heat . On one of the very hottest days in this summer , Helen V. left the farmhouse for one of her long rambles in the forest , taking with her , as usual , some bread and meat for lunch . She was seen by some men in the fields making for the old Roman Road , a green causeway which traverses the highest part of the wood , and they were astonished to observe that the girl had taken off her hat , though the heat of the sun was already almost tropical . As it happened , a labourer , Joseph W. by name , was working in the forest near the Roman Road , and at twelve o'clock his little son , Trevor , brought the man his dinner of bread and cheese . After the meal , the boy , who was about seven years old at the time , left his father at work , and , as he said , went to look for flowers in the wood , and the man , who could hear him shouting with delight over his discoveries , felt no uneasiness . Suddenly , however , he was horrified at hearing the most dreadful screams , evidently the result of great terror , proceeding from the direction in which his son had gone , and he hastily threw down his tools and ran to see what had happened . Tracing his path by the sound , he met the little boy , who was running headlong , and was evidently terribly frightened , and on questioning him the man at last elicited that after picking a posy of flowers he felt tired , and lay down on the grass and fell asleep .