noon
Before that , the herd being in the care of the Swede boy , she spent the days either in skilfully outlining on a wide board , by means of a carpenter 's pencil and an overturned milk-pan , cart-wheels for the box of the little red wagon , or in playing `` Pilgrim 's Progress , '' seated on an empty grain-sack which Bruno , snarling with delight , dragged by his teeth along the reservation road from the Slough of Despond to the gates of the Celestial City . She also helped her mother prepare for the coming Fourth of July celebration at the station . But she gave up everything to go with the professor while he scoured the prairie to the north , east , and south , and burdened herself willingly with the lunch-bucket and his umbrella . From dawn till noon , for a whole fortnight , she trotted beside him , straining her eyes to catch sight of some plant he had not yet seen , and tearing here and there to pluck posies for his bouquet . When , however , there remained to be searched only a wide strip bordering the Vermillion , she remained at home . The professor carried forward his work along the river enthusiastically , planning to finish by the eve of the celebration , so that he could accompany the family to the station on the morning of the Fourth , and there take the afternoon local going east . He tramped up and down the bluffs , finding many a rare shrub in high , sunny spots or low , sheltered nooks , and returning to the farm-house only when he was laden with spoil .