four o'clock in the morning
The next day she waited for him , anxious to unpack the thrilling parcel from Sydney , but he did not come , and all the night she sat waiting , afraid that he had met with some accident . If someone had come , then , and told her he was drunk she would not have believed it . It seemed to her just as unreal a thing as last night 's dream . But at four o'clock in the morning as she sat on the verandah , half nodding with red-rimmed , heavy eyes , she saw him come stumbling along , holding on to the pony 's neck . She went out to meet him , knowing just exactly what she was going to meet . And she felt frozen with horror . The average man coming home drunk is not a tragedy .