noon
Finally he realized that he had lost his way . `` And I ca n't be more than five miles from home , too ! '' he reproached himself , in tired disgust . Although it was not yet noon , Ralph was as hungry as a young wolf , for he had eaten nothing more than a dish of cold oatmeal and milk since five o'clock that morning , and he had taken no provisions with him . Assailed now by the pangs of a youthful , healthy , unsatisfied appetite , he began to wonder what he could manage to `` scare up '' in the form of edibles . Near at hand was one of the numerous small springs with which these hills abounded . It rilled up out of the earth and rocks and formed a pool of clear water in which cress grew plentifully , furnishing him with a welcome salad .