four
o'clock
`` In the park , of course . '' They were some time selecting the tree , many being too easy for him , and many too hard for her ; but one was found at last , an oak of great age , and frequented by rooks . Then , insisting that she must be roped to him , he departed to the house for some blind-cord . The climb began at four o'clock -- named by him the ascent of the Cimone della Pala . He led the momentous expedition , taking a hitch of the blind-cord round a branch before he permitted her to move . Two or three times he was obliged to make the cord fast and return to help her , for she was not an ` expert ' ; her arms seemed soft , and she was inclined to straddle instead of trusting to one foot . But at last they were settled , streaked indeed with moss , on the top branch but two .