midday
And pointing to the two long fat sausages , he continued : `` And the remains of those sausages can go in your box . You shall pack them up . '' The two men ate off wooden platters , and cut up their bread and sausage with their pocket-knives ; there was nothing to do afterwards but to gather up the fragments and carry the plates into the kitchen . An old woman came every morning to do the housework and prepare the midday meal , and every afternoon the turnpike keeper waited with repressed impatience till the door had closed behind her . Then he felt better . When Franz had put the sausage in his box and come downstairs again , he found his father with cap in hand , ready to go out . `` Come , boy , '' he said , `` let 's stretch our legs a bit . ''