seven in the morning
When the navvies came in about the town and accommodation was ill to find , Wilson rigged up an old shed in the corner of his holm as a hostelry for ten of them -- and they had to pay through the nose for their night 's lodging . Their food they obtained from the Emporium , and thus the Wilsons bled them both ways . Then there was the scheme for supplying milk -- another of the `` possibeelities . '' Hitherto in winter , Barbie was dependent for its milk supply on heavy farm-carts that came lumbering down the street , about half-past seven in the morning , jangling bells to waken sleepy customers , and carrying lanterns that carved circles of fairy yellow out the raw air . But Mrs. Wilson got four cows , back-calvers who would be milking strong in December , and supplied milk to all the folk about the Cross . She had a lass to help her in the house now , and the red-headed boy was always to be seen , jinking round corners like a weasel , running messages hot-foot , errand boy to the `` bisness '' in general . Yet , though everybody was busy and skelping at it , such a stress of work was accompanied with much disarray .