about noon
Jist have yer list ready when I come back from feedin ' Eben , an ' I 'll do the best I kin . '' Captain Tobin rowed toward the shore with long steady strokes . He was in no hurry as he had all the morning on his hands . He did not expect the wind to rise until the turn of the tide , which would be about noon . He was thinking of Eben , and wondering what had come over the boy to make him so docile in such a short time . He had seemed more animated than usual , and had eaten his breakfast without making any embarrassing enquiries . He had not even referred to the men searching the river for the missing girl , neither did he speak of the conversation that had taken place between his father and the man in the small boat .