nine o'clock before
The weather was hot and dry , and Mr. Allis , unaccustomed to labour in the fields , often almost fainted in the sun . His work seemed to him to progress very slowly . He had no one to assist him in sowing and planting and gathering in his crops ; for , in the first place , there were few people to be hired , and , more than that , he had no money to pay his workmen if he had been able to obtain them . Every morning he had to go more than a mile with his oxen for water , which he brought in a barrel for family use ; and it was often nine o'clock before he got to his work in the fields . At length November came and found his summer 's work completed . He had no barn in which to store his grain , and could only secure it by `` stacking '' it until it could be threshed . The potatoes , squashes , pumpkins , beets , turnips and other vegetables which the garden had produced for winter use were as securely housed as possible and protected from the frost ; and Mr. Allis began to hope that now he might take that rest which he so much required .