the hour of six
`` Oh dear , no ! tell us a story , a true story -- we shall be all the more delighted to know that we are listening to an account of what has really occurred . Do begin at once , please '' . Knocking the ashes from the bowl of his pipe , and having carefully reared it against the hob , he commenced : -- `` The factory bells had just ceased ringing , and the whistles had given out their last shrieks , like the expiring yells of some agonized demon , as the old church clock drowsily tolled the hour of six , on one of the most miserable of December mornings . High on a bleak hill stood a little whitewashed cottage , from the door of which issued two children , apparently about ten years of age . As they stept into the cold morning air they shuddered , and drew their scanty garments closer around them . `` Nah , yo 'll ha ' to luk sharp !