A quarter past seven
She fixed the table , flowers in the center , the best cloth , Peter 's favorite cheese . Six o'clock , six-thirty , seven ; Marie was telling Jimmy a fairy tale and making the fairies out of rosebuds . The studylamp was lighted , the stove glowing , Peter 's slippers were out , his old smoking-coat , his pipe . A quarter past seven . Peter would be near Vienna now and hungry . If he could only eat his supper before he learned -- but that was impossible . He would come in , as he always did , and slam the outer door , and open it again to close it gently , as he always did , and then he would look for her , going from room to room until he found her -- only to-night he would not find her .