nearly noon
But I felt that his overtaking the wagon would bring an additional trouble to the father and the mother ; indeed , I was afraid that the old man might kill him . Strange fellow Chyd was , and I liked him as an oddity , as something wholly different from myself or from any impulsive being . He was not cruel -- he simply had no heart . I walked about the old place until nearly noon , and then I went to town . The jailer met me with a doubtful shaking of his scheming head , and I knew that again he had received orders to be rigid in his discipline , but I was resolved that the old rascal 's appetite for liquor should not play a second prank upon me ; so when he hinted at another bottle I told him that I had spent so much of my life as a temperance lecturer that it was against my conscience to buy a favor with whisky . I looked steadily at him , and he began to wince . `` Why , to be sure , '' said he , `` but , my dear sir , I did n't buy whisky with that dollar -- bought a ham with it .