noon
Smoke was coming from Steve Hawn 's chimney , and in the porch were two or three slatternly negro women . The boy knew the low , sinister meaning of their presence on public works ; and these blacks ate , slept , and plied their trade in the home of Mavis Hawn ! All the old rebellion and rage of his early years came back to him and boiled the more fiercely that his mother 's home could never be hers , nor Mavis 's hers -- for a twofold reason now -- again . It was nearing noon and the boy 's hunger was a keen pain . Rapidly he went down the crest of the spur until his grandfather 's house was visible beneath him . The horse at the front fence was gone , but as he slipped toward the rear of the house he looked into the stable to make sure that the horse was not there . And then a moment later he reached the back porch and noiselessly opened the door -- so noiselessly that the old man sitting in front of the fire did not hear .