noon
Why did they not come to see him ? Were they ashamed to do so ? he wondered , and was that what Tom meant ? As noon approached , Rod began to feel hungry . He had eaten very little breakfast , as he had been too much interested in a new family of kittens which had been discovered in the barn . The other scholars who had come some distance would have their dinner , and he could not bear the thought of seeing them eating when he was so hungry . He , therefore , planned to spend the hour by himself down by the river .