noon
Then he laid them against the logs and held them in place with a woven network of sticks . The first fire -- a slow one -- baked the clay into a rigid stone-like sheath inside the logs and presently the sticks were burned away . The women had cooked the meats by an open fire and spread the dinner on a table of rough boards resting on poles set in crotches . At noon one of them sounded a conch shell . Then with shouts of joy the men hurried to the fireside and for a moment there was a great spluttering over the wash basins . Before they ate every man except Abe and Samson `` took a pull at the jug -- long or short '' -- to quote a phrase of the time . It was a cheerful company that sat down upon the grass around the table with loaded plates .