eight o'clock in the
morning
If any one had told him in the dog-days of July that it was still April , he would only have answered gently that it was bright , warm weather for the time of year . But about old times his memory was good enough ; he could tell long stories of his boyhood , and describe the hills of his native place in such a manner as to set Tony full of longings after the country , with its cornfields , and meadows , and hedge-rows , which he had never seen . He remembered his Bible , too , and could repeat chapter after chapter describing his Master 's life , as they sat together in the perpetual twilight of their room ; for now that it was summer-time it did not seem right to keep the gas burning . Tony 's crossing had failed him altogether , for in dry weather nobody wanted it ; but in this extremity Mr. Ross came to his aid , and procured him a place as errand-boy , where he was wanted from eight o'clock in the morning till seven at night ; so that he could still open old Oliver 's shop , and fetch him his right papers before he went out , and put the shutters up when he came back . To become an errand-boy was a good step forwards , and Tony was more than content . He never ran about bare-headed and barefooted now as he had done twelve months before ; and he had made such good progress in reading and writing that he could already make out the directions upon the parcels he had to deliver , after they had been once read over to him . He did not object to the dry weather and clean streets as he had done when his living depended upon his crossing ; on the contrary , he enjoyed the sunshine , and the crowds of gaily-dressed people , for he could hold up his head amongst them , and no longer went prowling about in the gutters searching after bits of orange-peel .