noon
But do n't you believe him , my lad ; he wo n't own it , but he likes it all the same . '' Ben was right . For the next week men from the village and the surrounding farms came up to the castle looking very serious and important , to be enrolled for its defence ; and at the end of a fortnight there were fifty defenders , of whom fully forty looked as if they could be depended upon , while the rest would serve to make a show . Meanwhile , Farmer Raynes attended the drilling and gun practice every morning with his men , the whole gathering rapidly picking up the rudiments of the military art under their four good teachers ; while at noon all , save about a fourth , went back to their peaceful vocations , but ready at the arranged-for signal of two guns fired from the castle to hurry back , every man to his post , to stay in garrison continuously , instead of doing so one day in four . Farmer Raynes devoted the rest of his time to going round and gathering stores , -- provender and forage of every kind that would be necessary , -- and his wagons seemed to be always coming or going across the drawbridge ; while vaults and chambers in the castle which had remained unused for generations were now packed as store-rooms and granaries . `` Never mind the farm , Master Roy , '' said the bluff fellow , one day ; `` it is n't quite going backward . '' `` But the crops ? ''