noon
`` Feel 's as if it 's going to thaw , '' said Silvey as they came to a very slippery stretch of walk . So the quartette slid up and down on the ice as long after the second assembly bell as they dared , and with the fear of tardiness upon them , dashed for the school yard . His pocket was empty , and his conscience clear , and the morning session passed swiftly for John . At noon , as the long lines filed into the school yard to freedom , he looked about him with delight . The winter 's deposit of snow was melting into little rivulets which trickled merrily along wagon ruts until they came to the street drains . First-graders stopped to splash soggy snowballs into a huge puddle which had collected in the street just beyond the alley , and the drip-drip-drip of the water , from the trees and buildings to the wet , glistening sidewalks was as music to his ears . He broke into a run toward home from pure exuberance of feelings , and halted now and then to fill his lungs with the sunlit , pregnant air which the south wind had brought .