three o'clock
Through the flowers the sun flicked her parted lips with kisses , and spilled the withered petals on her . In a denser islet of shade , Scruff lay snapping at a fly . His head lolled drowsily in the middle of a snap , and snapped in the middle of a loll . At three o'clock Miss Naylor too came out , carrying a basket and pair of scissors . Lifting her skirts to avoid the lakes of water left by the garden hose , she stopped in front of a rose-bush , and began to snip off the shrivelled flowers . The little lady 's silvered head and thin , brown face sustained the shower of sunlight unprotected , and had a gentle dignity in their freedom . Presently , as the scissors flittered in and out of the leaves , she , began talking to herself .