half past six
Oliver , inside the hastily closed windows , could see the trees lashing helplessly , and could hear them groaning and snapping as one great branch after another came crashing to the ground . It was only a few minutes that the furious wind lasted , as it swept across the garden , but it left destruction in its wake . The beds of lilies were drenched and flattened , the smooth lawn was strewn with twigs and broken boughs , half a dozen trees were split , and one huge Lombardy poplar , with a mass of earth and roots turned upward , lay prone across the driveway . It was half past six by Oliver 's watch , then seven , then eight . No one had come home . Cousin Jasper was growing more and more restless and overwrought , Oliver was anxious -- and hungry . He saw his cousin gather up the fragments of the letter , piece them together for rereading , then fling them from him once more .