Ten o'clock
Miss Lavender insisted on having breakfast by sunrise , and as soon as the meal was over demanded her horse . Then first she announced the fact of Old-man Barton 's death , and that the funeral was to be on the following day . `` Mary , you must be sure and come , '' she said , as she took leave ; `` I know Ann expects it of you . Ten o'clock , remember ! '' Gilbert noticed that his mother laid aside her sewing , and when the ordinary household labor had been performed , seated herself near the window with a small old Bible , which he had never before seen in her hands . There was a strange fixedness in her gaze , as if only her eyes , not her thoughts , were directed upon its pages . The new expression of her face remained ; it seemed already to have acquired as permanent a stamp as the old .