noon
`` You come . Senott show you t ` ings . '' With a wide smile and a wave of her hand the gay Senott , apparently forgetful of the white spouse at home nursing the broken head she had given him , flapped away to join her Indian lover , Hoots-noo , Heart-of-a-Grizzly , the handsome young husband of Old-Woman-Who-Would-Not-Die . At noon every soul in Katleean had assembled in front of the trading-post . The boom of drums was louder . There was a feeling of expectancy in the air . The few whites , with the exception of Kilbuck , sat on the platform in front of the store .