about
noon
`` Let me tell what I 've got to first , '' he ordered , importantly . `` My part comes first , then it 's your turn . I 've got to go back to the store . It was just about noon that Simon Basset come in ag ` in and asked for a piece of rope . Said he wanted it to tie his cow with . I got out some rope , and he tried to beat me down on it ; asked me if I had n't got some second-hand rope I 'd let him have a piece of . Finally I got mad , and asked him why , if he was n't willing to pay for rope what it was worth , he did n't use a halter or his clothes-line .