four o'clock
But he never left his cell . She began to think it was true that he only came out at night . The next day she came early and brought a jerkin she was making for little Gerard , and there she sat all day , working , and watching with dogged patience . At four o'clock the birds began to feed ; and a great many of the smaller kinds came fluttering round the cave , and one or two went in . But most of them , taking a preliminary seat on the bushes , suddenly discovered Margaret , and went off with an agitated flirt of their little wings . And although they sailed about in the air , they would not enter the cave . Presently , to encourage them , the hermit , all unconscious of the cause of their tremors , put out a thin white hand with a few crumbs in it , Margaret laid down her work softly , and gliding her body forward like a snake , looked down at it from above ; it was but a few feet from her .