nine in the evening
But his impatience and the sense of being wronged were producing a feeling akin to desperation . Every week there was less and less to sell from the dairy ; chickens and eggs disappeared , and the appetites of those who dropped in to `` kape Bridgy from bein ' a bit lonely '' grew more voracious . Thus matters had drifted on until this March day when he had taken two calves to market . He had said to the kitchen potentate that he would take supper with a friend in town and therefore would not be back before nine in the evening . This friend was the official keeper of the poorhouse and had been a crony of Holcroft 's in early life . He had taken to politics instead of farming , and now had attained to what he and his acquaintances spoke of as a `` snug berth . '' Holcroft had maintained with this man a friendship based partly on business relations , and the well-to-do purveyor for paupers always gave his old playmate an honest welcome to his private supper table , which differed somewhat from that spread for the town 's pensioners .