noon
At daylight the Hillman was proudly mounting homeward , Terry 's belt tightly buckled about his naked trunk . The white man 's last dispensable possession had gone as a reward for the service . Terry 's joyous urge carried him swiftly , so that in an hour he dropped out of the foothills and into the heat of the jungled lowlands . At noon he climbed Sears ' steps and dropped into a porch chair , his clothes wet with perspiration and torn by contact with brush and thorn , for he had cut straight through the woods . He had nearly emptied Sears ' water bottle when he saw the big planter coming out of a wonderful growth of hemp . Sears advanced slowly , deep in thought , not looking up till he had mounted the last step . At sight of Terry 's grinning features he recoiled violently , then as the lad rose , he jumped forward to wring his hand furiously .