noon
He looked hardly human . The man behind whom he rode was Luiz Sebastian . The party dismounted in the small square , in the midst of the quarters . It being the noon rest , the entire servant population was on hand , and leaving its cabins and smoking messes of bacon and succotash , it hastened to a man to the square , where , beneath the dead tree and its sinister appendage , stood the master , listening to Woodson 's account of the capture , and to Sir Charles 's airy interpolations . Roach , dragged from the horse by a dozen officious hands , staggered with exhaustion . Luiz Sebastian caught him by the arm and so held him during the ensuing interview . When the unusual bustle , the neighing of the horses , and the excited voices of the crowd brought the news of the capture to Landless , sitting , sunk in anxious thought , within his cabin , he rose and began to pace to and fro in the narrow room .