midday
Priscilla had filled her pails and had carried them and the book to the house . Something had happened to her , also . She was out of tune with the sunlight and warmth ; she wanted to get close to life again and feel , as she had earlier , the kinship and joy , but the mood had passed . It was after the dishes of the midday meal were washed that she bethought her of the old shrine back near the woods . It was many a day since she had been there -- not since the autumn before -- and she felt old and different , but still she had a sudden desire to return to it and try again the mystic rite she had practised when she was a little girl . It was like going back to play , to be sure ; all the sacredness was gone , but the interest remained , and her yearning spurred her to her only resource . At two o'clock Nathaniel was off to a distant field , and Theodora announced that she must walk to the village for a bit of `` erranding . ''