about noon
Then it was decided by the gossips that Ezekiel was going to have Mr. Sawyer and Hiram Maxwell and Sam Hill to stand up with him , while Huldy Ann was going to have Alice Pettengill , Mandy Skinner , and Tilly James as bridesmaids . The whole town turned out when the two gaudy wagons , with their handsome horses and fine harness reached Eastborough Centre , and a number of Centre folks followed the unique procession over to Mason 's Corner . One of the wagons contained the new sign , which was soon put in place , and was a source of undisguised admiration for a long time . On the tenth of April , Strout & Maxwell 's two heavy teams went over to Eastborough Centre and returned about noon heavily loaded , followed by three other teams from the Centre equally well filled . Then Mr. Obadiah Strout could contain himself no longer . He let the cat out of the bag , and the news spread like wildfire over the village , and was soon carried to Eastborough Centre and to Montrose . The Mason 's Corner church was to have a new organ , a present from Mr. Sawyer , and Professor Obadiah Strout had been engaged to officiate for one year .