six o'clock
Often , as she looked , an unaccountable mist of tears would blur her vision . So that sunny little room whose door was marked `` MRS. BUCK '' had come to be more than a mere private office for the transaction of business . It was a clearing-house for trouble ; it was a shrine , a confessional , and a court of justice . When Carmela Colarossi , her face swollen with weeping , told a story of parental harshness grown unbearable , Emma would put aside business to listen , and six o'clock would find her seated in the dark and smelly Colarossi kitchen , trying , with all her tact and patience and sympathy , to make home life possible again for the flashing-eyed Carmela . When the deft , brown fingers of Otti Markis became clumsy at her machine , and her wage slumped unaccountably from sixteen to six dollars a week , it was in Emma 's quiet little office that it became clear why Otti 's eyes were shadowed and why Otti 's mouth drooped so pathetically . Emma prescribed a love philter made up of common sense , understanding , and world-wisdom . Otti took it , only half comprehending , but sure of its power .