four o'clock
Her own errand at this moment was to the draper 's , where she bought a quantity of pretty pale blue braid , for a little domestic dress-making which was in arrears , and some riband of the same tint . At this clever and unusual hour for shopping , the High Street was naturally empty , and after a little hesitation and many anxious glances to right and left , she plunged into the toy-shop and bought a pleasant little Union Jack with a short stick attached to it . She told Mr. Dabnet very distinctly that it was a present for her nephew , and concealed it inside her parasol , where it lay quite flat and made no perceptible bulge ... . At four o'clock on Saturday afternoon , she remembered that the damp had come in through her bedroom ceiling in a storm last winter , and told Withers she was going to have a look to see if any tiles were loose . In order to ascertain this for certain , she took up through the trap door a pair of binocular glasses , through which it was also easy to identify anybody who might be in the open yard outside the station . Even as she looked , Mrs. Poppit and Isabel crossed the yard into the waiting-room and ticket-office . It was a little surprising that there were not more friends in the station-yard , but at the moment she heard a loud Qui-hi in the street below , and cautiously peering over the parapet , she got an admirable view of the Major in a frock-coat and tall hat .