Three o'clock
If it were not for this business of the Five Sisters , I would n't go near her . Positively I would n't ! '' A mellow chime from the old eight-day clock in the outer hall struck on the silence . Three o'clock ! The train by which Miss Vancourt would arrive , was timed to reach Riversford station at three , -- if it was not late , which it generally was . Nebbie , who had been snoozing peacefully near the study window in a patch of sunlight , suddenly rose , shook himself , and trotted out on to the lawn , sniffing the air with ears and tail erect . Walden watched him abstractedly .