about noon in summer
An occasional weary low came from some imprisoned cow -- or animal of the cow-kind ; but not even a cat crossed the yard . The door of the barn was open , showing a polished floor , as empty , bright , and clean as that of a ball-room . And through the opposite door shone the last year 's ricks of corn , golden in the sun . Now , although a farm-yard is not , either in Scotland or elsewhere , the liveliest of places in ordinary , and still less about noon in summer , yet there was a peculiar cause rendering this one , at this moment , exceptionally deserted and dreary . But there were , notwithstanding , a great many more people about the place than was usual , only they were all gathered together in the ben-end , or best room of the house -- a room of tolerable size , with a clean boarded floor , a mahogany table , black with age , and chairs of like material , whose wooden seats , and high , straight backs , were more suggestive of state than repose . Every one of these chairs was occupied by a silent man , whose gaze was either fixed on the floor , or lost in the voids of space . Each wore a black coat , and most of them were in black throughout .