noon
Bailey read the tender passages in the same prosaic tone with which he described the shipwreck , and his elocution would have been funny to any other group of persons ; as it was , neither of his hearers smiled . Blanche 's heart was filled with rebellion . Why could she not have known Jim in the days when she , too , was young and innocent like the heroines of these stories ? At noon , when Rivers went out to feed the team , Bailey went over toward the wretched woman . His face was kind but firm : `` Mrs. Burke , I hope you 've decided not to do this thing . '' She looked at him with shrinking eyes . `` What do you mean ? ''