three o'clock
`` Thank you , Pat , '' she replied . Then she went on snipping at the choice plants she kept in the house , even in summer , and Pat , proudly wearing his rose , hurried off . But when Pat arrived at home and hastened out behind the shanty , the post-holes were dug . Mike had risen at three o'clock that morning , dug each one and covered it with a bit of board before his mother was up . `` And have you come to say you ca n't come this evenin ' ? '' asked Mike , as Pat advanced to where he was sorting over such old scraps of boards as he had been permitted to pick up and carry home . `` I 've come to get to work this minute , '' replied Pat , throwing off his blouse and hanging it on the sill of the open window , with the rose uppermost .