five in the morning
Finding it necessary to account for myself here as at the boarding-house , I had adhered to my former name , but said I was the widow of a commander lately lost , at sea , which was as near to the truth as I dared venture . I had also made no disguise of the fact that I was expecting a child , a circumstance which secured me much sympathy from the kind-hearted souls who were now my neighbours . They were all womanly women , generally the wives of men working in the milk factory , and therefore the life of our street was very regular . At five in the morning you heard the halting step of the old `` knocker up , '' who went up and down the street tapping at the bedroom windows with a long pole like a fishing-rod . A little before six you heard the clashing of many front doors and the echoing footsteps of the men going to their work . At half-past seven you heard the whoop of the milkman and the rattling of his cans . At half-past eight you heard the little feet of the children , like the pattering of rain , going off to the Board School round the corner .