about eleven o'clock
He promised to bring me a pocketful of apples and pears , and then he kissed his children , said good-bye , and set off . It seemed a long while to us all -- the three days of his absence -- and often did little Cathy ask when he would be home . Mrs. Earnshaw expected him by supper-time on the third evening , and she put the meal off hour after hour ; there were no signs of his coming , however , and at last the children got tired of running down to the gate to look . Then it grew dark ; she would have had them to bed , but they begged sadly to be allowed to stay up ; and , just about eleven o'clock , the door-latch was raised quietly , and in stepped the master . He threw himself into a chair , laughing and groaning , and bid them all stand off , for he was nearly killed -- he would not have such another walk for the three kingdoms . ` And at the end of it to be flighted to death ! ' he said , opening his great-coat , which he held bundled up in his arms .