afternoon, about five o’clock
`` What was the use , '' said she , `` of locks and bolts , and bells to the windows , and going round the house every night ? That last trick was fit for a conjuror . Now she did believe that Signor Brunoni was at the bottom of it . '' One afternoon , about five o'clock , we were startled by a hasty knock at the door . Miss Matty bade me run and tell Martha on no account to open the door till she -LRB- Miss Matty -RRB- had reconnoitred through the window ; and she armed herself with a footstool to drop down on the head of the visitor , in case he should show a face covered with black crape , as he looked up in answer to her inquiry of who was there . But it was nobody but Miss Pole and Betty . The former came upstairs , carrying a little hand-basket , and she was evidently in a state of great agitation .