six o'clock
Martin had said that he could not possibly get away , even for the week of Anne 's wedding , but Cherry began to wonder if he would let her go alone . `` If he does n't , I shall be sick ! '' she fretted to herself , in a certain burning noontime , toward the middle of August . Blazing heat had been pouring over the mine since six o'clock ; there seemed to have been no night . Martin , who had been playing poker the night before , was sleeping late this morning . He was proud of the little wife who so generously spared him for an occasional game , and always allowed him to sleep far into the following morning . Other wives at the mine were not so amiable where poker was concerned .