noon
`` That was a railroad train . '' `` Danged if I did n't think hit was a saw-mill comin ' atter me . '' The farmer laughed and looked as though he were going to ask questions , but he clucked to his horses and drove on , and Jason then and there swore a mighty oath to himself never again to be surprised by anything else he might see in this new land . All that day he rode slowly , giving his old nag two hours ' rest at noon , and long before sundown he pulled up before a house in a cross-roads settlement , for the mountaineer does not travel much after nightfall . `` I want to git to stay all night , '' he said . The man smiled and understood , for no mountaineer 's door is ever closed to the passing stranger and he can not understand that any door can be closed to him . Jason told the truth that night , for he had to ask questions himself -- he was on his way to see his mother and his step-father and his cousin , who had moved down from the mountains , and to his great satisfaction he learned that it was a ride of but three hours more to Colonel Pendleton 's .