noon
So he reasoned , and went on towards home ; but , in truth , it was not their delay or displeasure that deterred him so much as his own pride , which loathed the thought of laying bare his cause for fear and distress . The day was duller now . The sun , in passing into the western sky , had entered under thicker veils of white . The film of ice on the bay , which had melted in the pale sunbeams of noon , would soon form again . The air was growing bitterly cold . When Bates had moored his boat , he went up the hill heavily . The dog , which had been shut in the house to guard it , leaped out when he opened the door .