four o'clock
Then she understood it all , and her thoughts of the quicksands vanished . `` Her room was a small one in the rear of the house , immediately over the back kitchen , and her back window opened upon the roof of the wood shed behind the kitchen . She went and hoisted the window , and there on the roof of the wood shed stood Alfred Whyte . `` He told her that he had taken leave of the ogre and the ogress hours before , and they thought he was off to London by the four o'clock mail ; but that he had gone no farther than the railway station , where he had bought a ticket , and had gone on the platform , as if to wait for his train ; but when it came up , instead of taking his place on it , he had slipped away in the confusion of its arrival and had hidden himself in the woods on the other side of the road , where he had waited until it was dark , when he had come back to watch the parsonage until every one should have gone to bed , so that he could get speech with Ann . `` And then he asked her if she were ` game for a bolt ? '' `` She did not understand him ; but when he next spoke plainly , and inquired if she would run away with him and be married , she answered promptly that she would . `` He told her to get ready quickly , and to dress warmly , for the night was damp and cold , and to tie up a little bundle of things that she might need on the journey ; but not to take much , because he had plenty of money , and could buy her all she needed . ''