noon
How gladly would I have overtaken him to restore it ! It was the only keepsake he possessed ; and knowing that I would not accept it if offered , he took this way of compelling me to keep it . Through the long hours of the summer 's night I thought of him ; and when at last I slept , towards morning , my first thought on waking was of the solitary day before me . The miles no longer slipped imperceptibly along ; no longer did the noon and night seem fast to follow . Alas , that one should grow old ! The very sorrows of our early years have something soft and touching in them . Arising less from deep wrong than slight mischances , the grief they cause comes ever with an alloy of pleasant thoughts , telling of the tender past , and amidst the tears called up , forming some bright rainbow of future hope .