about noon
He was a farmer of the old school , the traditions received from his father controlled him in the main . Still , his good common sense and long experience stood him fairly well in the place of science and knowledge of improved methods , and he was better equipped than the man who has in his brain all that the books can teach , yet is without experience . Best of all , he had inherited and acquired an abiding love of the soil ; he never could have been content except in its cultivation ; he was therefore in the right condition to assimilate fuller knowledge and make the most of it . He knew well enough when it was about noon . From long habit he would have known had the sky been overcast , but now his glance at the sun was like looking at a watch . Dusty and begrimed he followed his team to the barn , slipped from them their headstalls and left them to amuse themselves with a little hay while they cooled sufficiently for heartier food . `` Well now , '' he mused , `` I wonder what that little woman has for dinner ?