midday
`` It happened one winter when father and Strong Ingmar were up in the forest working at the kiln . When Christmas came around , Strong Ingmar offered to tend the kiln by himself , so that father could come home for the holidays . The day before Christmas , mother sent me up to the forest with a basket of good fare for Strong Ingmar . I started early , so as to be there before the midday dinner hour . When I came up , father and Strong Ingmar had just finished drawing a kiln , and all the charcoal had been spread on the ground to cool . It was still smoking and , where the coals lay thickest , it was ready to take fire , which is something that must not happen . To prevent that is the most important part of the entire process of charcoal making .