noon
For the first time in his life he was glad at this instant that he had not killed Fletcher then -- that his hand had been stayed that day to fall the heavier , it might be , at the appointed time . The boy still chatted eagerly , and when presently the hounds scented a rabbit in the sassafras beyond the fence , he started with a shout at the heels of the pursuing pack . Swinging himself over the brushwood , Christopher followed slowly across the waste of lifeeverlasting , tearing impatiently through the flowering net which the wild potato vine cast about his feet . Through the brilliant October day they hunted over the ragged fields , resting at noon to eat the slices of bread and bacon which Christopher had brought in his pocket . As they lay at full length in the sunshine upon the lifeeverlasting , the young man 's gaze flew like a bird across the landscape -- where the gaily decorated autumn fallows broke in upon the bare tobacco fields like gaudy patches on a homely garment -- to rest upon the far-off huddled chimneys of Blake Hall . For a time he looked steadily upon them ; then , turning on his side , he drew his harvest hat over his eyes and began a story of his early adventures behind the hounds , speaking in half-gay , half-bitter tones . In the mild autumn weather a faint haze overhung the landscape , changing from violet to gray as the shadows rose or fell .