the hour of seven
If I 'd had my choice given me when I was born , I would n't have been an eldest sister . '' The School Service Badge Settling down at Abbey Close after a month at Highfield was like transferring oneself from a noisy farmyard to the calm of the cloister . The house was so near to the Minster that it seemed pervaded by the quiet Cathedral atmosphere . When Winona drew up her blinds in the morning , the first sight that greeted her would be the grey old towers and carved pinnacles , exactly opposite , where the jackdaws were chattering , and the pigeons wheeling round , and the big clock was going through the chimes and striking the hour of seven . There was a particular gargoyle at the corner of the transept roof which appeared to be grinning at her across the road , as if some imp were imprisoned in the stone image , and were peeping out of its fantastic eyes . Winona had grown to love the Minster . She would go in whenever she had ten minutes to spare after school .