two o’clock
That 's her answer . ' ` Where are the pictures by my father that she has purchased ? ' ` O , not here -- at least , not unpacked . ' Miss de Stancy then left him to proceed on her journey to Markton -LRB- so the nearest little town was called -RRB- , informing him that she would be at her father 's house to receive him at two o'clock . Just about one he closed his sketch-book , and set out in the direction she had indicated . At the entrance to the wood a man was at work pulling down a rotten gate that bore on its battered lock the initials ` W. De S. ' and erecting a new one whose ironmongery exhibited the letters ` P. P. ' The warmth of the summer noon did not inconveniently penetrate the dense masses of foliage which now began to overhang the path , except in spots where a ruthless timber-felling had taken place in previous years for the purpose of sale . It was that particular half-hour of the day in which the birds of the forest prefer walking to flying ; and there being no wind , the hopping of the smallest songster over the dead leaves reached his ear from behind the undergrowth .