eight o’clock
the preliminary image in the mind of the writer is faint enough , and when he comes to trace it , the pencil swerves and goes off into something utterly unlike it . An attempt , however , to show what the waking hours in Cowfold Square were like may not be out of place . The shopkeeper came into his shop at half-past seven , about half an hour after the shutters had been taken down by his apprentice . At eight o'clock breakfast was ready ; but before breakfast there was family worship , and a chapter was read from the Bible , followed by an extempore prayer from the head of the household . If the master happened to be absent , it was not considered proper that the mistress should pray extempore , and she used a book of `` Family Devotions . '' A very solid breakfast followed , and business began . It was very slow , but it was very human -- much more so than business at the present day in the City .