noon
The warm bright weather continued . Morning after morning dawned in unclouded sunshine , and when Saturday concluded the first five days of the ` May-moneth , ' the inhabitants of St. Rest were disposed to concede that it was just possible they might have what they called ` a spell of fair weather . ' Saturday was the general ` cleaning-up day ' in the village -- the day when pails of water were set out in unexpected places for the unwary to trip over ; when the old flagstones poured with soapsuds that trickled over the toes of too - hasty passers-by ; when cottage windows were violently squirted at with the aid of garden-syringes and hose , -- and when Adam Frost , the sexton , was always to be found meditating , and even surreptitiously drinking beer , in a quiet corner of the churchyard , because he was afraid to go home , owing to the persistent housewifely energy of his better half , who ` washed down ' everything , ` cleaned out ' everything , and had , as she forcibly expressed it , ` the Sunday meals on her mind . ' It was a day , too , when Bainton , released from his gardening duties at the rectory at noon , took a thoughtful stroll by himself , aware that his ` Missis ' was scrubbing the kitchen , and ` would n't have him muckin ' about , ' -- and when John Walden , having finished his notes for the Sunday 's sermon , felt a sense of ease and relief , and considered himself at liberty to study purely Pagan literature , such as The Cratylus of Plato . But on this special Saturday he was not destined to enjoy complete relaxation . Mrs. Spruce had sent an urgent appeal to him to ` kindly step up to the Manor in the afternoon . ' And Mrs. Spruce 's husband , a large , lumbering , simple - faced old fellow , in a brown jacket and corduroys , had himself come with the message , and having delivered it , stood on Walden 's threshold , cap in hand , waiting for a reply .