ten o’clock
As he went down towards the well , he met an old woman , who had a coarse dirty blouse on , carrying two pails full of water , that hung on a yoke across her bent back . The old woman carefully put down the pails and bowed , with the same backward jerk of her head . After passing the well Nekhludoff entered the village . It was a bright , hot day , and oppressive , though only ten o'clock . At intervals the sun was hidden by the gathering clouds . An unpleasant , sharp smell of manure filled the air in the street . It came from carts going up the hillside , but chiefly from the disturbed manure heaps in the yards of the huts , by the open gates of which Nekhludoff had to pass .