noon
`` We want to give him a good welcome when he comes back without his fleece . '' `` It 's useless to wait , '' said Aunt Nancy . `` You know Farmer Green said it would take Johnnie all day to shear him . '' Along toward noon the black ram came hurrying to the upper end of the pasture , where most of the sheep were feeding . `` Snowball 's here ! '' he blatted . `` And he 's sheared , too ! ''