noon
We stepped aside , and the niggers got between us and the captain , and when they was past the captain had disappeared . We could n't see him nowheres . There was a man standin ' there , a kind of boss , it seemed . So we asked him when the boat was goin ' back to St. Louis , and he said to-morrow at noon . Then another boss spoke up and said , `` No , we 're goin ' up to Copperas Creek , back Saturday . '' `` Who says so ? '' `` Well , that 's the talk . ''