six o'clock
They alighted on a small wooden platform and their hand baggage was deposited beside them . Their trunks were being tumbled off a car far ahead . Then the whistle screamed , the train gave a jerk and proceeded on its way , and Uncle John , his nieces and their maid , found themselves confronting a solitary man in shirtsleeves , who yawned languidly , thrust his hands in his pockets and stared at the strangers unmoved . It was six o'clock . The July sun was set in a clear sky , but the air was cool and pleasant . Uncle John glanced around with the eye of a practiced traveler . Back of the station was a huddle of frame buildings set in a hollow .