noon
He must have been called away on business early , the rain having cleared off . Yet she would have liked to assure herself , by thoroughly exploring the precincts of the hut , that he was nowhere in its vicinity ; but as the day was comparatively fine , the dread lest some stray passenger or woodman should encounter her in such a reconnoitre paralyzed her wish . The solitude was further accentuated to-day by the stopping of the clock for want of winding , and the fall into the chimney-corner of flakes of soot loosened by the rains . At noon she heard a slight rustling outside the window , and found that it was caused by an eft which had crept out of the leaves to bask in the last sun-rays that would be worth having till the following May . She continually peeped out through the lattice , but could see little . In front lay the brown leaves of last year , and upon them some yellowish-green ones of this season that had been prematurely blown down by the gale . Above stretched an old beech , with vast armpits , and great pocket-holes in its sides where branches had been amputated in past times ; a black slug was trying to climb it .