two o'clock
The continuation of wooded ground on either side the narrow winding river made the place particularly picturesque ; and it was a favorite amusement for the rector 's son and daughter to push a rather crazy boat out of the little boat-house at the foot of the garden , and row up and down those reaches of the stream `` between the bridges , '' which were navigable . One of the bridges warned them of the weir , which it was not very safe to approach ; and beyond the other , three miles further down and close to Birchmead , the stream was shallow and clogged with reeds . But within these limits there was a peaceful tranquil beauty which made the boat a favorite resting place for the Rectory people during the long summer evenings and afternoons . It was two o'clock on a late autumn afternoon , when a girl of sixteen came out of the Rectory door , which always stood hospitably open in fine weather , and walked to the boat-house , as if intending to launch out upon the water . The day was sunny on the whole , but not cloudless : the sun shone out brightly every now and then , and was again obscured by a filmy haze , such as rises so easily from the low-lying land in Essex . But the golden haze softened the distant outlines of wood and meadow , and the sun 's beams rested tenderly upon the rapidly stripping branches , where a few rustling leaves still told of their departed glories . The long undefined shadows of the trees stretched far across the wide lawn , scarcely moving in the profound stillness of the air ; and a whole assembly of birds kept up a low-toned conversation in the bushes , as if the day were hardly bright enough to warrant a full chorus of concerted song .