noon
There , there , enough ! Fare thee well , lad , and mind the business I bade thee take in hand ! '' `` Ay , master , '' replied the youth , but as he stepped upon the Rock , and shook the waters from his mighty limbs , he heaved a sigh so ponderous that surely it helped to fill the mainsail now curving grandly to the gathering breeze . But the summer day ripened to noon , and waned until the sun all but touched the crest of Captain 's Hill , before the young man gave over the work at which he had labored like a Titan all day long , and going down to the brook at a point where the captain and he had dug a semicircular basin and paved it about with white sea-pebbles by way of a lavatory , he made his toilet , chiefly by throwing the clear cool water in bucketfuls over his head and neck , and then rubbing himself with a coarse towel until the crisp hair curled vivaciously , and the fair skin glowed out from under its coat of sunbrown in strong relief to the white teeth and blue eyes that made the face so comely in its strength . A little brushing of the dark doublet and leathern small-clothes , the low russet boots and knitted hose that completed his costume , and the unwilling envoy strolled down the hill to Elder Brewster 's cottage and paused unseen and unheard outside the open door . It was the quiet time in the afternoon when the rougher labors of the day were ended , and the housewife might rest herself with the more delicate tasks of spinning , knitting , or needlework , for it was in these , `` the good old days '' we all so plaintively lament , that the distich -- `` Man may work from sun to sun But woman 's work is never done '' -- originated , and was something more than a bitter jest . In the elder 's busy household all the women were using this hour for their own refreshment .