Half past nine
`` I think , '' said Pepet , `` that the Ironworker is less valiant than they say ; and what is your opinion about it , Don Jaime ? '' When it was growing late , and Margalida had talked with each of her suitors , her father , who was dozing in a corner , would break into a loud yawn . The man of the fields seemed to divine the passing of time even when asleep . `` Half past nine ! Bedtime ! Bòna nit ! '' And all the youths , after this hint , would leave the house , their footsteps and their whinnying swallowed up by darkness .