nine o'clock before
They were just near enough for me to hear their faint rustling in windy weather ; on calm days they stood up straight against the sky , like memorial columns . They were friends of mine -- those four poplars ; sometimes they almost seemed alive . We made acquaintance on this first night , when I sat watching for John ; and we kept up the friendship ever afterwards . It was nine o'clock before I heard the old mare 's hoofs clattering up the road : joyfully I ran out . David was not quite his youthful , gay self that night ; not quite , as he expressed it , `` the David of the sheep-folds . '' He was very tired , and had what he called `` the tan-yard feeling , '' the oppression of business cares . `` Times are hard , '' said he , when we had finally shut out the starlight , and Mrs. Tod had lit candles , bade us good-night in her free , independent way , and `` hoped Mr. Halifax had everything he wanted . ''