noon
When he had barked and hopped about , flattening and contorting himself in warm invitation for him to join in a game of tag or a wrestling match , Neewa had simply stared at him like an idiot . He was wondering , perhaps , if Neewa would enjoy anything besides a fight . It was a long time before he decided to make another experiment . It was , as a matter of fact , halfway between breakfast and noon . In all that time Neewa had scarcely moved , and Miki was finding himself bored to death . The discomfort of last night 's storm was only a memory , and overhead there was a sun unshadowed by cloud . More than an hour before Challoner 's canoe had left the lake , and was now in the clear-running water of a stream that was making its way down the southward slope of the divide between Jackson 's Knee and the Shamattawa .