six
o'clock
Then Maggie passed quickly out , and with her eyes only did she look back and utter a farewell which carried with it both a kiss and a tear . And something else which was a warning . And Helen never forgot . It was Saturday afternoon and pay-day , and the mill shut down at six o'clock . When Helen went in Kingsley sat at the Superintendent 's desk , issuing orders on the Secretary and Treasurer , Richard Travis , who sat at his desk near by and paid the wages in silver . Connected with the mill was a large commissary or store -- a cheap modern structure which stood in another part of the town , filled with the necessaries of life as well as the flimsy gewgaws which delight the heart of the average mill hand . In establishing this store , the directors followed the usual custom of cotton-mills in smaller towns of the South ; paying their employees part in money and part in warrants on the store .