noon
`` Eight miles ; I 'm afraid it is a long way for you -- '' `` Then the sooner we git started the better , '' the girl interrupted . `` I 'll take the pan an ' run back to that yellow house we just passed for some water . '' Without waiting for a reply she tilted the little scent bottle carefully against the tree-trunk and departed , while Jim stretched himself out luxuriously in the grateful shade . He was tired , and the still heat of noon had a stupefying effect . Lou seemed long in returning , and his thoughts grew nebulous until he finally drifted off into slumber . When he awakened the shadows had lengthened to those of mid-afternoon , and there was a delicious , unaccustomed aroma in the air . He gazed about him in a bewildered fashion to find Lou sitting cross-legged in the grass , and spread upon it on the apron between them were the rolls and ham , and a huckleberry pie , still warm , and fairly exuding juice .