four o'clock
Folks that live a little nicer than common , and keep girls , do n't have more than five hours to their day ; the rest of the time , they 're dressed up ; and that means _ tied _ up . They ca n't _ see _ to their girls ; they grow helplesser all the time and the help grows sozzlier ; and so it comes to sauciness and upstrupperousness , and changes ; and there 's an up-stairs and a down-stairs to every house , and no _ home _ anywhere . That 's how it is , and how it must be , till women take down some of their furbelows and live real , and keep house , and take old-fashioned comfort in it . Why , the help has to get into _ their _ humpty-dumpties by three or four o'clock , and see _ their _ company . If there 's sickness or anything , that they ca n't , they 're up a tree and off . I 've known of folks breakin ' up and goin ' to board , because they were _ afraid _ of sickness ; they knew their girls would clear right out if there was gruel to make and waitin ' up and down to do . There ai n't much left to depend on but hotels and hospitals .