seven o'clock
I lay there , wide awake , thinking about Mr. Pitman 's death , and how I had come , by degrees , to be keeping a cheap boarding-house in the flood district , and to having to take impudence from everybody who chose to rent a room from me , and to being called a she-devil . From that I got to thinking again about the Ladleys , and how she had said he was a fiend , and to doubting about his having gone out for medicine for her . I dozed off again at daylight , and being worn out , I slept heavily . At seven o'clock Mr. Reynolds came to the door , dressed for the store . He was a tall man of about fifty , neat and orderly in his habits , and he always remembered that I had seen better days , and treated me as a lady . `` Never mind about breakfast for me this morning , Mrs. Pitman , '' he said . `` I 'll get a cup of coffee at the other end of the bridge .