A quarter before nine
Poor Mrs. Sullivan had no appetite , and it was with difficulty Gertrude persuaded her to eat anything ; but a few fried oysters , unexpectedly placed before her , proved such a temptation that she was induced to eat several , with a degree of relish she rarely felt for any article of food . As Gertrude gazed at her languid face , she realized , more than ever , the change which had come over the active little woman ; and confident that nothing but positive disease could have effected such a transformation , she resolved that not another day should pass without her seeing a physician . Breakfast over , there were dishes to wash , rooms to be put in order , dinner to be partially prepared ; and all this Gertrude saw accomplished , chiefly through her own labour , before she went to re-arrange her dress , previous to her departure for the school where she had now been some weeks assistant teacher . A quarter before nine she looked in at the kitchen door , and said , in a cheering tone , to the old man , who was cowering gloomily over the fire -- `` Come , Mr. Cooper , wo n't you go over and superintend the new church a little while this morning ? Mr. Miller will be expecting you ; he said yesterday that he depended on your company when at work . '' The old man rose , and taking his great-coat from Gertrude , put it on with her assistance , and accompanied her in a mechanical sort of way , which implied great indifference about going . As they walked in silence down the street , Gertrude could not but resolve in her mind the singular coincidence which had thus made her the almost daily companion of another infirm old man ; nor could she fail to draw a comparison between the warm-hearted Uncle True , and the gloomy Paul Cooper .