noon
`` What 's all that for ? '' asked Mother Martha . `` Oh , it suits my fancy to have them grow that way for a change , '' said Ingmar . Along came the noon hour , and the men folks stopped their work ; after the midday meal the farm hands went out into the yard and lay down in the grass to sleep . Ingmar Ingmarsson slept , too , but he was lying in a broad bed in the chamber off the living-room . The only person not asleep was the old mistress , who sat in the big room , knitting . The door to the entrance hall was cautiously opened , and in came an old woman carrying two large baskets on a yoke .