noon
A BAD beginning did not make a good ending of the Senora Moreno 's sheep-shearing this year . One as superstitiously prejudiced against Roman Catholic rule as she was in favor of it , would have found , in the way things fell out , ample reason for a belief that the Senora was being punished for having let all the affairs of her place come to a standstill , to await the coming of an old monk . But the pious Senora , looking at the other side of the shield , was filled with gratitude that , since all this ill luck was to befall her , she had the good Father Salvierderra at her side to give her comfort and counsel . It was not yet quite noon of the first day , when Felipe fainted and fell in the wool ; and it was only a little past noon of the third , when Juan Canito , who , not without some secret exultation , had taken Senor Felipe 's place at the packing , fell from the cross-beam to the ground , and broke his right leg , -- a bad break near the knee ; and Juan Canito 's bones were much too old for fresh knitting . He would never again be able to do more than hobble about on crutches , dragging along the useless leg . It was a cruel blow to the old man . He could not be resigned to it .