noon
I see another tablecloth in your basket , Mrs. Ballard . If you 'll be good enough to just hold that corner , we can cover everything up good , so , and then I 'll walk about a bit and call them all together . '' And the kindly lady stepped briskly off through the woods , still talking , while Mrs. Ballard and Mrs. Walters sat themselves down in the shade and quietly watched the coffee and chatted . It was past the noon hour , and the air was drowsy and still . The voices and laughter of the nut gatherers came back to them from the deeper woods in the distance , and the crackling of the fire where Bertrand attended to the roasting of the corn near by , and the gentle sound of the lapping water on the river bank came to them out of the stillness . `` I wonder if Mr. Walters tied the horses good ! '' said his wife .