six o'clock
She was practical and hard-working . She knew the value of a dollar , could make one and keep one , sometimes -- fate permitting . Fate was usually Sam and Sam was Polly 's husband . Any morning at six o'clock she might be seen , basket on arm , wending her way to the homes of her wealthy patrons for the purpose of bringing in their washing , for by this means did she gain her livelihood . She had been a person of hard common sense , which suffered its greatest lapse when she allied herself with the man whose name she bore . After that the lapses were more frequent . How she could ever have done so no one on earth could tell .