noon
Miss Evelina could not hear , but she knew that the man was talking to the dog in the pauses of his whistling . She knew also that the dog liked it , even if he did not understand . She observed that the dog was not beautiful -- could not be called so by any stretch of the imagination -- and yet the man talked to him , made a friend of him , loved him . At noon , the Piper laid down his scythe , clambered up on the crumbling stone wall , and ate his bread and cheese , while the dog nibbled at his bone . From behind a shutter in an upper room , Miss Evelina noted that the dog also had bread and cheese , sharing equally with his master . The Piper went to the well , near the kitchen door , and drank copiously of the cool , clear water from his silver cup . Then he went back to work again .