Five minutes before noon
The pole was simply a tree cleared of its branches at the present time , which the girls hoped later on to develop into a real Indian totem pole , but standing just a few yards in front of the group of tents it formed a center for all eyes and therefore seemed the best possible place for keeping a little boy always in sight . Little Brother was at first very happy because he had with him the things he loved best : a discarded bathing shoe , a bottle of hard brown beans and an old cream whipper , that made the most delectable noises as one turned it about . Indeed , so soothing did its noises become that , on returning for the sixth time from her game to see that the small boy was safe , Meg discovered him fast asleep in a patch of sunshine on the grass . Five minutes before noon Sylvia Wharton came running breathless with excitement from her sentry post . Dust was rising at some distance off in the curve of the lane where a path led across the fields to Sunrise Camp . Harder and faster the girls continued at their work , of course appearing superbly unconscious of possible interruption and yet ten minutes later , when Edith Norton returned from the village on her bicycle along the way of Sylvia 's warning , there was a sort of general let-down feeling though no one confessed to it . Then half an hour passed , noon was in the background of the day and hunger was laying fierce hold on the camp members .