six o'clock
I have seen villains who were rich , and I have seen villains who were poor , and I have seen villains who were neither rich nor poor , but who had realized Agar 's wish , and lived in fair and modest competency . The clock is going to strike six . Away with you , Joe , and ring the mill bell . '' It was now the middle of the month of February ; by six o'clock therefore dawn was just beginning to steal on night , to penetrate with a pale ray its brown obscurity , and give a demi-translucence to its opaque shadows . Pale enough that ray was on this particular morning : no colour tinged the east , no flush warmed it . To see what a heavy lid day slowly lifted , what a wan glance she flung along the hills , you would have thought the sun 's fire quenched in last night 's floods . The breath of this morning was chill as its aspect ; a raw wind stirred the mass of night-cloud , and showed , as it slowly rose , leaving a colourless , silver-gleaming ring all round the horizon , not blue sky , but a stratum of paler vapour beyond .