eight o'clock
`` I 'm a-talkin ' scientific fac 's , an ' you 're talkin ' nigger foolishness . The ignorance jes nachully oozes outen the pores o ' your skin . '' Gordon Lee , thus arraigned , lay with contracted brows and protruding lips , nursing his wrongs , while Amanda disappeared into the adjoining room , there to vent her wrath on the pots and pans about the stove . Despite the fact that it was after eight o'clock and she had been on her feet all day , she set about preparing the evening meal for her husband with all the care she had bestowed on the white folks ' supper . Soon the little cabin was filled with the savory odor of bacon , and when the corn battercakes began to sizzle promisingly , and she flipped them over dexterously with a fork , Gordon Lee forgot his ill humor , and through the door watched the performance with growing eagerness . `` Git yerself propped up , '' Amanda called when the cakes were encircled with crisp , brown edges . `` I 'll git the bread-board to put acrost yer knees .