noon
Step by step the bag had grown heavier , and hour by hour the insistent , teasing pain in his side had increased until now it was a torture . He had forgotten that the way to the valley was so long ; he had not realized how nearly spent was his strength before he even started down the trail . Throbbing through his brain was the question , what if , after all , he could not -- but even to himself he would not say the words . At noon they paused for luncheon , and at night they camped where the chattering brook had stopped to rest in a still , black pool . The next morning the man and the boy picked up the trail again , but without the bag . Under some leaves in a little hollow , the man had hidden the bag , and had then said , as if casually : -- `` I believe , after all , I wo n't carry this along . There 's nothing in it that we really need , you know , now that I 've taken out the luncheon box , and by night we 'll be down in the valley . ''