noon
A minute of thought , however , showed her that such a demand for lard would have been so much out of the common as to have elicited some comment from Miles at closing time . Each bucket would contain something over thirty pounds in weight , so the sale of over sixty pounds ' weight of lard in one evening would have been something of a record for Roaring Water Portage . Miles was busy at the wood pile ; she could not leave the store to go and question him then , so had to wait with what patience she could muster until he came indoors again . Her father had not left his bed yet ; indeed he rarely did leave it now until noon or later , when he dressed himself , walked across the kitchen , and sat in the rocking-chair until it was time for bed again . The life would have seemed dreary and monotonous enough if it had not been for the hard and constant work , which made the days of that winter fly faster for Katherine than any winter had ever flown before . She did not mind the work . Young , strong , and with plenty of energy , the daily toil seemed rather pleasant than otherwise .