nearly five
o’clock
An earthly paradise had been created in a howling wilderness by the self-denying labours of the holy ladies , aided by the statesmanlike liberality of the Congested Districts Board . There was another page of the article , but Hyacinth could stand no more . He stood up and glanced at his watch . It was already nearly five o'clock . He pushed his way down the street , where the country-people , having completed their week 's marketing , were loading donkeys on the footpath or carts pushed backwards against the kerbstone . Women dragged their heavily-intoxicated husbands from the public-houses , and girls , damp and bedraggled , stood in groups waiting for their parents . He turned into the gloomy archway of the mill , unlocked the iron gate , and crossed the yard into the Quinns ' garden .