noon
Temporary idol or not , he longed for possession of it , but he knew that although he moved heaven and earth to support a direct request for transfer , Miss Brown would never assign it to him . Many a past bitter experience had shown the most harmless desires to mask deep-laid juvenile plots , and she was singularly wary and distrustful . A way must be found to trick her into giving him the occupancy . He ate his meat and potatoes very quietly and thoughtfully that noon , a procedure so contrary to his usual actions that his mother asked him if he felt well . He nodded abstractedly , went upstairs to the big , sunny sewing room , searched the family needlecase for a long stiff darning needle and extracted several rubber bands from the red cardboard box on the library table . Then he sauntered off to wait in the school yard for assembly bell , with the air of a military strategist who has planned a well-laid campaign and is sanguine of success . The tramp of juvenile feet up the broad , school stairways grew steadily less until silence reigned in the big , empty corridors .