noon
Then comes breakfast in the kitchen with the farm-hands with their clattering hobnailed shoes and tarry hands , after which follows the business of sheep-washing , which Will views from the shady bank of the pool , and in his small heart he is quite torn because of the plaintive bleatings of the frightened sheep . But he swallows it as a man should . There is a pedler haunting the sheep-shearing festivals of the neighborhood . The women have sent for him to bring his pack to Snitterfield , and Dad bids Will choose a pair of scented gloves for Mother -- and be quick ; they must be off for Stratford before the noon . Dad seems short and curt . Grandfather , his broad , florid face upturned to Dad astride Robin , shakes his hoary head . `` Doan ' you do it , son John , '' says Grandfather ; '' 't is a-building on sand is any man who thinks to prosper on a mortgage .