noon
When you go out of the house into the flower garden , there you feel again the order and fine arrangement manifest all over the great farm ; in the fencing and hedging , in the windbreaks and sheds , in the symmetrical pasture ponds , planted with scrub willows to give shade to the cattle in fly-time . There is even a white row of beehives in the orchard , under the walnut trees . You feel that , properly , Alexandra 's house is the big out-of-doors , and that it is in the soil that she expresses herself best . Emil reached home a little past noon , and when he went into the kitchen Alexandra was already seated at the head of the long table , having dinner with her men , as she always did unless there were visitors . He slipped into his empty place at his sister 's right . The three pretty young Swedish girls who did Alexandra 's housework were cutting pies , refilling coffeecups , placing platters of bread and meat and potatoes upon the red tablecloth , and continually getting in each other 's way between the table and the stove . To be sure they always wasted a good deal of time getting in each other 's way and giggling at each other 's mistakes .