eight o'clock
Through George 's mind there wandered half-astonished thoughts about this strange compelling power of marriage , -- the deep grip it makes on life -- the almost mechanical way in which it bears down resistance , provided only that certain compunctions , certain scruples still remain for it to work on . George slept lightly , being over-tired . All through the night the vision of the beaten men going down sullenly to their first shift seemed to hold him as though in a nightmare . Between seven and eight o'clock a sound startled him . He found himself standing by his bed , struggling to wake and collect himself . A sound that had shaken the house , passing like a dull thud through the valley ? A horror seized him .