about four o'clock in the afternoon
Wastefulness and inattention have been the rule heretofore . The autumn clip will leave a small profit over all expenses . Next year there will be jam . '' When , about four o'clock in the afternoon , the ponies rounded a gentle , brush-covered hill , and then swooped , like a double cream-coloured cyclone , upon the Rancho de las Sombras , Octavia gave a little cry of delight . A lordly grove of magnificent live-oaks cast an area of grateful , cool shade , whence the ranch had drawn its name , `` de las Sombras '' -- of the shadows . The house , of red brick , one story , ran low and long beneath the trees . Through its middle , dividing its six rooms in half , extended a broad , arched passageway , picturesque with flowering cactus and hanging red earthern jars .