about six o'clock in the evening
But he did not come . A month later , in October , I saw a great assembling of Oreads , by which I was able to connect more than one experience . I could now understand the phenomenon of the luminous ring . I reached the valley by about six o'clock in the evening . It was twilight , not yet dusk . The sun was off the hollow , which lay in blue mist , but above the level of the surrounding hills the air was bathed in the sunset glow . The hush of evening was over all , the great cup of the down absolutely desert ; there were no birds , nor voices of birds ; not a twig snapped , not a leaf rustled .