ten at night
It represented a two-hundredth part of their joint earnings , and yet he thought he was dealing liberally with her ; he half expected , in fact , that his magnanimity would break her down where his firmness had failed . But she only whispered a faint `` Thank you , '' and slowly folded the paper in her fingers . He waited for a minute , suspecting that she was overcome , but as she said nothing more he at length turned and left the house , saying gruffly as he went out , `` When that 's done I 'll send you more if you write for it . '' It was now ten at night , and almost dark , but Harris 's footsteps instinctively turned down the road toward Riles ' . Riles ' reputation in the community was that of a hardworking , money-grubbing farmer , with a big bony body , and a little shrivelled soul , if indeed the latter had not entirely dried up into ashes . A few years ago Harris had held his neighbour in rather low regard , but of late he had been more and more impressed with Riles ' ability to make his farm pay , which was as great as or greater than his own , and what he had once thought to be hardness and lack of humanity he now recognized as simply the capacity to take a common-sense , business view of conditions . At the gate he met Allan , returning from spending a social hour with the grant boys .