nine o'clock
No , no , my little man ! Sit there and amuse yourself : what _ you _ do do n't make a ha ` porth of odds . But there 's others to be considered , and I 'm going to put an end to this nonsense afore it spreads . '' The time of the year , as I 've told you , was near about midsummer , when a man can see to read print out-of-doors at nine o'clock . Service over , the preacher had set out for a stroll across the hayfields towards Trematon , to calm himself with a look at the scenery and the war-ships in the Hamoaze and the line of prison-hulks below , where in those days they kept the French prisoners . He was strolling back , with his hands clasped behind him under his coat-tails , when on the knap of the hill , between him and the town , he caught sight of a bevy of women seated among the hay-pooks -- staid middle-aged women , all in dark shawls and bonnets , chattering there in the dusk . As he came along they all rose up together and dropped him a curtsy .