noon
To possible trouble ahead he gave no thought . The days drew on to hay-harvest , and on the 5th of June Roger and his men started to mow Behan Parc , a wide meadow to the east of the house . Roger took a scythe himself : he enjoyed mowing . By noon the field was half-shorn , and the master , pausing to whet his scythe , had begun to think upon dinner , when at a call from Malachi he looked up to see a ragged wastrel of a man picking his way across the swathes towards him with a paper in his hand . `` Hullo ! What 's this ? '' he demanded , taking the paper and unfolding it .