Noon
He was certainly nothing of a weight to carry , and his new owner was conscious of a certain pleasure in feeling the warm , silky little body nestling against his breast . He was not quite alone any more , -- this little creature was a companion , -- a something to talk to , to caress and to protect . He ascended the bank , and regaining the highroad resumed his vagrant way . Noon was now at the full , and the sun 's heat seemed to create a silence that was both oppressive and stifling . He walked slowly , and began to feel that perhaps after all he had miscalculated his staying powers , and that the burden of old age would , in the end , take vengeance upon him for running risks of fatigue and exhaustion which , in his case , were wholly unnecessary . `` Yet if I were really poor , '' he argued with himself , `` if I were in very truth a tramp , I should have to do exactly what I am doing now . If one man can stand ` life on the road , ' so can another . ''