noon
It was the knowledge that Anne , the boy , and all he wished to do for both depended on the pay-streak which had urged him to such a fury of effort . His carelessness of his own life , that led him to slap his timbering up any way , was born of that same fury . And the consequences came like most consequences , without a moment 's warning . It was a still and beautiful noon . Ches had pulled out the last car before dinner , and started for the cabin . A curious groaning and snapping from the tunnel halted him . It was the giving of the tortured timbers .