nearly five o'clock
She had stolen away when the reading began . Dr. Parker , walking very softly , came to her and laid his hand on her shoulder . `` He 's gone , '' he said simply . It was nearly five o'clock , gray dawn of what was to be a clear , beautiful summer morning , when Keziah softly lifted the latch and entered the parsonage . All night she had been busy at the Hammond tavern . Busy with the doctor and the undertaker , who had been called from his bed by young Higgins ; busy with Grace , soothing her , comforting her as best she could , and petting her as a mother might pet a stricken child . The poor girl was on the verge of prostration , and from hysterical spasms of sobs and weeping passed to stretches of silent , dry-eyed agony which were harder to witness and much more to be feared .