four o'clock in the evening
Every week most of the money went to pay arrears of rent or some other debts , so that even whilst he was at work they had often to go without some of the necessaries of life . They had broken boots , shabby , insufficient clothing , and barely enough to eat . The weather had become so bitterly cold that , fearing he would be laid up if he went without it any longer , he took his overcoat out of pawn , and that week they had to almost starve . Not that it was much better other weeks , for lately he had only been making six and a half hours a day -- from eight-thirty in the morning till four o'clock in the evening , and on Saturday only four and a half hours -- from half past eight till one . This made his wages -- at sevenpence an hour -- twenty-one shillings and sevenpence a week -- that is , when there was work to do every day , which was not always . Sometimes they had to stand idle three days out of six . The wages of those who got sixpence halfpenny came out at one pound and twopence -- when they worked every day -- and as for those who -- like Sawkins -- received only fivepence , their week 's wages amounted to fifteen and sixpence .