At lunch they were reticent about their triumphs of the morning.
After lunch they went to the cow-house and took measurements.

It had long been unoccupied by cows and needed little cleaning.

It was quite suitable to their purpose, a brick building with a slate roof and of a size to hold two cows.

The measurements made, they went, with an important moneyed air, down to the village carpenter, the only timber merchant in the neighborhood, and bought planks from him.

There was some discussion before his idea about the price of planks and that of the Terror were in exact accord; and as he took the money he said, with some ruefulness, that he was a believer in small profits and quick returns.