noon
He knew now what hard work was , at any rate . The morning walk was delightful . The September weather was perfect , and all along the road were fruit-trees laden with every sort of good thing to eat a boy could wish for . And as the trees were on the public thoroughfare , Archie did net hesitate to help himself freely as he went along , so that he did n't require any meal at noon . As night drew near , however , he began to wonder what he would do for a bed , and the question became more important with every hour . He had come to no towns since morning , and knew that he could n't expect to reach one of any size until the next day , anyhow . There were farmhouses , of course , but after his experience of the past week the lad felt that he would rather remain outdoors all night than risk being thrown in with another Hiram Tinch .