five minutes past six
When it was really dark she lighted the lamp in her parlor and read for an hour , and if it happened to be one of Miss Mary Wilkins 's books that she read she expressed doubts as to the realism of the characters therein described . These doubts she expressed to Dorcas Networthy , who was a small , plump woman , with a solemn face , who had lived with the widow for many years and who had become her devoted disciple . Whatever the widow did , that also did Dorcas -- not so well , for her heart told her she could never expect to do that , but with a yearning anxiety to do everything as well as she could . She rose at five minutes past six , and in a subsidiary way she helped to get the breakfast , to eat it , to wash up the dishes , to work in the garden , to quilt , to sew , to visit and receive , and no one could have tried harder than she did to keep awake when the widow read aloud in the evening . All these things happened every day in the summertime , but in the winter the widow and Dorcas cleared the snow from their little front path instead of attending to the flowers , and in the evening they lighted a fire as well as a lamp in the parlor . Sometimes , however , something different happened , but this was not often , only a few times in the year . One of the different things occurred when Mrs. Ducket and Dorcas were sitting on their little front porch one summer afternoon , one on the little bench on one side of the door , and the other on the little bench on the other side of the door , each waiting until she should hear the clock strike five , to prepare tea .