noon
Again he looked into Billy 's bedroom and at the empty bed . Then he went for a moment and watched the still forcibly sleeping John . He turned his eyes this way and that , and after standing for a while moved quietly back to his chair and sat down with the leather wallet of notes on his lap , his knees together , and his unblocked shoes touching . In due time the clocks of Massachusetts struck noon . In a meadow where a brown amber stream ran , lay Bertie and Billy on the grass . Their summer coats were off , their belts loosened . They watched with eyes half closed the long water-weeds moving gently as the current waved and twined them .