noon
A newer tenderness for the innocent , deserted little pilgrim was welling in his heart . Keno , having declared his intention of shovelling off the snow and opening up a trench to uncover the gold-ledge of the miner 's claim , departed briskly when the meal was presently finished . Jim and the preacher , with the pup , however , went at once to the home of Miss Dennihan , where the children were all thus early engaged in starting off the day of romping and fun . The lunch that came along at noon , and the dinner that the happy Miss Doc prepared at dusk , were mere interruptions in the play of the tiny Carson and the lively little girls . There never has been , and there never can be , a measure of childish happiness , but surely never was a child in the world more happy than the quaint little waif who had sat all alone that bright November afternoon in the brush where the Indian pony had dropped him . All the games they had tried on the previous day were repeated anew by the youngsters , and many freshly invented were enjoyed , including a romp in the snow , with the sled that one of the miners had fashioned for the Christmas-tree . That evening a larger contingent of the men who hungered for the atmosphere of home came early to the little house and joined in the games .