six o'clock
The milkman came at six , and he was the good fairy who released Ben Westerveld from durance vile -- or had been until the winter months made his coming later and later , so that he became worse than useless as a timepiece . But now it was late March , and mild . The milkman 's coming would soon again mark old Ben 's rising hour . Before he had begun to take it easy six o'clock had seen the entire mechanism of his busy little world humming smoothly and sweetly , the whole set in motion by his own big work-calloused hands . Those hands puzzled him now . He often looked at them curiously and in a detached sort of way as if they belonged to someone else . So white they were , and smooth and soft , with long , pliant nails that never broke off from rough work as they used to .