nine o'clock
With the flower in her hand , she started up the ravine to her dreaming place , but it was so lonely up there and she turned back . She went into her room and tried to read . Mechanically , she half opened the lid of the piano and shut it , horrified by her own act . As she passed out on the porch again she noticed that it was only nine o'clock . She turned and watched the long hand -- how long a minute was ! Three hours more ! She shivered and went inside and got her bonnet -- she could not be alone when the hour came , and she started down the road toward Uncle Billy 's mill .