about nine
o'clock
Tell me -- your father -- '' She had knelt before the cold hearth , and he knelt beside her , and they busied themselves with logs and kindling in the old way . A blaze crept up about the logs and Alix accepted Peter 's handkerchief and wiped a streak of soot from her wrist , quite as if she was a child again , as she settled herself in her chair . Peter took the doctor 's chair , keeping his concerned and sympathetic eyes upon her . `` He was well one day , '' she said , simply , `` and the next -- the next , he did n't come downstairs , and Hong waited and waited -- and about nine o'clock I went up -- and he had fallen -- he had fallen -- '' She was in tears again and Peter put his hand out and covered hers and held it . Their chairs were touching , and as he leaned forward , their faces might almost have touched , too . `` He must have been going to call someone , '' said Alix , after a while , `` they said he never suffered at all . This was January , the last day , and Cherry got here that same night .