four in the morning
The boy made no definite reply , and the old man , stirring the fire in the stove with his crook-stem , closed the door upon his companion and vanished . As this had been more or less the course of events every night since the season 's lambing had set in , the boy was not at all surprised at the charge , and amused himself for some time by lighting straws at the stove . He then went out to the ewes and new-born lambs , re-entered , sat down , and finally fell asleep . This was his customary manner of performing his watch , for though special permission for naps had this week been accorded , he had , as a matter of fact , done the same thing on every preceding night , sleeping often till awakened by a smack on the shoulder at three or four in the morning from the crook-stem of the old man . It might have been about eleven o'clock when he awoke . He was so surprised at awaking without , apparently , being called or struck , that on second thoughts he assumed that somebody must have called him in spite of appearances , and looked out of the hut window towards the sheep . They all lay as quiet as when he had visited them , very little bleating being audible , and no human soul disturbing the scene .