noon
He loved children , and had the rare gift of understanding them . A faint smile played about his mouth as from the corner of his eye he saw Dan take a piece of paper from his pocket , shyly place the rose between the folds and then return it to its former place . He could not hear the boy 's heart thumping hard beneath his jacket , but he understood , and what more was needed ? All day long they jogged over the road , stopping only at noon to feed the horses and eat a lunch Marion 's mother had tucked away in the corner of the waggon . Dan found it easy to talk to the big man sitting by his side . He told him about his father 's death , Parson John , and the accident , to which his companion listened with much interest . But concerning the object of his visit to the lumber camp , Dan was silent .