noon
From the window he saw Colonel Ward go scurrying away on a jumper , evidently bound for the choppings . The cook and cookee surveyed his prison at a distance . They seemed to have no desire to come into close contact with a man of whom they had heard such sinister reports . Hackett , who hung about camp , apparently to serve as general `` striker '' and man of all work , brought food at noon and left it without engaging in conversation . Parker made a dull day of it . After the chill dusk had fallen and he had stuffed his rusty little stove with all the wood it would hold , he heard the men returning . A colloquy that occurred after supper interested him .