noon
He would wring his soul and quench his manhood with some strange unheard-of horror , ere dealing the final stroke that should rid earth of his presence . Scheme after scheme burned through his mind , and at times his gaunt face would crease itself in a dreadful smile as he pulled the lever that drove his blade through the deals . Finding no plan altogether to his taste , however , he resolved to postpone his revenge till night , at least , that he might have the more time to think it over , and to indulge the luxury of anticipation with realization so easily within his grasp . At noon Vandine , muttering to himself , climbed the steep path to the little cottage on the hillside . He ate his dinner in silence , with apparently no perception of what was being set before him . His daughter dared not break in upon this preoccupation . Even his idolized Stevie could win from him no notice , save a smile of grim triumph that frightened the child .