The initial conflict in the story is a character vs. character(SELF) conflict between Roger and Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones. Roger tries to steal Mrs. Jones’s purse, and Mrs. Jones not only prevents him, she basically kidnaps him.
I would say the best answer is smooth log. From what I have gathered, a puncheon is like a spilt log/ slab of wood that is smooth on one side, and can be used for flooring or to make benches.