noon
Then the oxen were turned , with some difficulty , at right angles with the line just drawn , and were driven easterly until the southern boundary of the patch was marked out . Turning , now , at right angles , and tracing another line at the north , then again to the west to the point of original departure , they had accurately defined the outer boundaries of the field on which so much in the future depended ; for here was to be planted the first crop of the newcomers . Younkins , having started the settlers in their first farming , returned across the river to his own plough , first having sat down with the Dixon party to a substantial dinner . For the boys , after the first few furrows were satisfactorily turned , had gone back to the cabin and made ready the noon meal . The ploughmen , when they came to the cabin in answer to Sandy 's whoop from the roof , had made a considerable beginning in the field . They had gone around within the outer edge of the plantation that was to be , leaving with each circuit a broader band of black and shining loam over which a flock of birds hopped and swept with eager movements , snapping up the insects and worms which , astonished at the great upheaval , wriggled in the overturned turf . `` Looks sorter homelike here , '' said Younkins , with a pleased smile , as he drew his bench to the well-spread board and glanced around at the walls of the cabin , where the boys had already hung their fishing-tackle , guns , Oscar 's violin , and a few odds and ends that gave a picturesque look to the long-deserted cabin .