nearly seven o'clock
`` Folly yer nose , '' a voice shouted ; and there was a general laugh , in the midst of which the station-master reappeared . He pointed out the way , and Harold trudged off to accomplish , as best he might , five Irish miles over miry highways and byways through the darkness of the December evening . This was the young American 's first practical experience of boycotting . It was nearly seven o'clock when , tired and mud-bespattered , he reached Lisnahoe ; but the warmth of his reception there went far to banish all recollection of the discomforts of his solitary tramp . A hearty hand-clasp from Jack , a frank and smiling greeting from Polly -LRB- she looked handsomer than ever , Harold thought , with her lustrous black hair and soft , dark-gray eyes -RRB- , put him at his ease at once . Then came introductions to the rest of the family . Mr. Connolly , stout and white-haired , bade him welcome in a voice which owned more than a touch of Tipperary brogue .