nearly eight o'clock
AT the Baxters the late supper was over and the girls had not sat at the table with their father , having eaten earlier , by themselves . The hired men had gone home to sleep . Patty had retired to the solitude of her bedroom almost at dusk , quite worn out with the heat , and Waitstill sat under the peach tree in the corner of her own little garden , tatting , and thinking of her interview with Ivory 's mother . She sat there until nearly eight o'clock , trying vainly to put together the puzzling details of Lois Boynton 's conversation , wondering whether the perplexities that vexed her mind were real or fancied , but warmed to the heart by the affection that the older woman seemed instinctively to feel for her . `` She did not know me , yet she cared for me at once , '' thought Waitstill tenderly and proudly ; `` and I for her , too , at the first glance . '' She heard her father lock the barn and shed and knew that he would be going upstairs immediately , so she quickly went through the side yard and lifted the latch of the kitchen door . It was fastened .