ten o'clock
Deborah is staying at John Walters ' , and Samuel has got a snug little cottage no great way on the other side of the brook ; and not far-off , and a little nearer to the Hall , is still another cottage , where Old Crow is just settled with Deborah 's mother for housekeeper , for the old man could not rest content to be so far away from his adopted son Jacob , for he `` means to call him Jacob and nothing else as long as he lives . '' The old man is not without money of his own , and he still means to do a little in the knife-grinding line . So his cart is to be wheeled up for him to the Park this afternoon , and he is to sharpen just as many or just as few knives for the squire , and scissors for the ladies , as he pleases . And now -- for it is almost half-past ten o'clock -- there is a straggling of various groups up to the neat little ivy-covered church . Oh , what a joyful day it is for Thomas Johnson and Betty ! They hardly know how to hold all the love that swells in their hearts , and every one is so kind to them . Then the bells ring out joyfully , and the churchyard is filled with expectant faces of old and young .