noon
Our house was a convenient stopping-place for them . We had a big barn where the farmers could put up their teams , and their womenfolk more often accompanied them , now that they could stay with us for dinner , and rest and set their bonnets right before they went shopping . The more our house was like a country hotel , the better I liked it . I was glad , when I came home from school at noon , to see a farm-wagon standing in the back yard , and I was always ready to run downtown to get beefsteak or baker 's bread for unexpected company . All through that first spring and summer I kept hoping that Ambrosch would bring Antonia and Yulka to see our new house . I wanted to show them our red plush furniture , and the trumpet-blowing cherubs the German paperhanger had put on our parlour ceiling . When Ambrosch came to town , however , he came alone , and though he put his horses in our barn , he would never stay for dinner , or tell us anything about his mother and sisters .