Friday noon
Twice during those four days he had stood by his Heart 's Desire during recess , while they had looked out at the play-ground . But the words next to his heart had sputtered and bubbled into nothing on his lips . He could only snap chalk at the young gentlemen in the yard below him , in a preoccupied way , and listen to his Heart 's Desire rattle on about the whims of her fractions and the caprices of her spelling-lesson . Friday noon , Winfield Hancock Pennington took a header into the Rubicon . In the deserted school-room , just after the other youngsters had gone to dinner or to play , Piggy , with much wiggling of his toes , with much hard breathing , and with many facial contortions , wrote a note . He gave it to the Pratt girl to deliver . When the first bell was ringing that noon , Piggy was piling up the primary urchins in wiggling , squealing piles at `` crack the whip . ''