noon
The thirty shearers , running into the nearest pen , dragged each his sheep into the shed , in a twinkling of an eye had the creature between his knees , helpless , immovable , and the sharp sound of the shears set in . The sheep-shearing had begun . No rest now . Not a second 's silence from the bleating , baa-ing , opening and shutting , clicking , sharpening of shears , flying of fleeces through the air to the roof , pressing and stamping them down in the bales ; not a second 's intermission , except the hour of rest at noon , from sunrise till sunset , till the whole eight thousand of the Senora Moreno 's sheep were shorn . It was a dramatic spectacle . As soon as a sheep was shorn , the shearer ran with the fleece in his hand to Luigo , threw it down on a table , received his five-cent piece , dropped it in his pocket , ran to the pen , dragged out another sheep , and in less than five minutes was back again with a second fleece . The shorn sheep , released , bounded off into another pen , where , light in the head no doubt from being three to five pounds lighter on their legs , they trotted round bewilderedly for a moment , then flung up their heels and capered for joy .