noon
In the autumn it held its own ; for when the other elms changed their green to duller tints , the nooning tree put on a gown of yellow , and stood out against the far background of sombre pine woods a brilliant mass of gold and brown . In winter , when there was no longer dun of upturned sod , nor waving daisy gardens , nor ruddy autumn grasses , it rose above the dazzling snow crust , lifting its bare , shapely branches in sober elegance and dignity , and seeming to say , `` Do not pity me ; I have been , and , please God , I shall be ! '' Whenever the weather was sufficiently mild , it was used as a `` nooning '' tree by all the men at work in the surrounding fields ; but it was in haying time that it became the favorite lunching and `` bangeing '' place for Squire Bean 's hands and those of Miss Vilda Cummins , who owned the adjoining farm . The men congregated under the spreading branches at twelve o ' the clock , and spent the noon hour there , eating and `` swapping '' stories , as they were doing to-day . Each had a tin pail , and each consumed a quantity of `` flour food '' that kept the housewives busy at the cook stove from morning till night . A glance at Pitt Packard 's luncheon , for instance , might suffice as an illustration , for , as Jabe Slocum said , `` Pitt took after both his parents ; one et a good deal , 'n' the other a good while . '' His pail contained four doughnuts , a quarter section of pie , six buttermilk biscuits , six ginger cookies , a baked cup custard , and a quart of cold coffee .