midday
A kingfisher , disturbed by his arrival , went rattling on his way upstream . And as the boy drew from his dingy blouse a scrap of brown paper , enclosing a bit of bread and cheese , and laid it down beside him , the stream seemed to be dancing just before him at the tune he whistled ; a swinging , whirling dance from shore to shore ; a butterfly dance , through a setting of buttercups and daisies ; with here and there a shaft of sunlight thrown upon it , where the thin clouds parted . Afternoon came , and the shadows of the low hills were thrown far across the stream . Here and there a splash denoted that the fish were waking from their midday torpor and were ready for prey . Little Tim resumed his rod , and slowly retraced his steps along the shore in the direction of Ellison dam and Benton . It was about four o'clock as he neared a point in the stream a half-mile above the dam , where the water flowed very quietly past the edge of some thick alders . There were pickerel in that water .