noon
It was sunset and the schoolroom clock pointed to a quarter of five . The schoolroom was chilly , for the fire had died out half an hour since . Hollis Rheid had shoved big sticks into the stove until it would hold no more and had opened the draft , whispering to her as he passed her seat that he would keep her warm at any rate . But now she was shivering , although she had wrapped herself in her coarse green and red shawl , and tapped her feet on the bare floor to keep them warm ; she was hungry , too ; the noon lunch had left her unsatisfied , for she had given her cake to Rie Blauvelt in return for a splendid Northern Spy , and had munched the apple and eaten her two sandwiches wishing all the time for more . Leaving the work on her slate unfinished , she had dived into the depths of her home-made satchel and discovered two crumbs of molasses cake . That was an hour ago . School had closed at three o'clock to-day because it was Friday and she had been nearly two hours writing nervously on her slate or standing at the blackboard making hurried figures .