about noon
It had remained for the last scion of the old stock to furnish a byword for slackness . In a village where stories of outlandish , ungodly , or supernatural laziness were sacredly preserved from year to year , Caleb Kimball 's indolence easily took the palm . His hay commonly went to seed in the field . His cow yielded her morning 's milk about noon , and her evening `` mess '' was taken from her -LRB- when she was lucky -RRB- by the light of a lantern . He was a bachelor of forty-five , dwelt alone , had no visitors and made his living , such as it was , off the farm , with the help of a rack-o ' - bones horse . He had fifty acres of timber-land , and when his easy-going methods of farming found him without money he simply sold a few trees . The house and barn were gradually falling into ruins ; the farm implements stood in the yard all winter , and the sleigh all summer .