the hour
of eleven
And in the crowd who waited there was this difference from the last time we had been together : All the children were with us and not separated from us by walls that crash . I think that the second meeting of Town and Settlement would have been impossible if each parent had not had the confidence inspired by the small hands in theirs . And for still more minutes we were patient while the delicious autumn sun beamed upon us with Indian summer warmth and Old Harpeth looked down on us from out on Paradise Ridge with its crown wreathed with purple and gold and russet , all veiled in a tender haze . Then as the old clock on the courthouse up on the square boomed the hour of eleven , Dabney with ceremony opened wide the tall doors and stepped back into the shadow , Jefferson bowing and smiling behind him . With one accord the people started toward the door , and then everybody again stood still and seemed to be waiting for something . I knew for what they waited and I took Martha 's hand in mine , with the boy 's in hers on the other side , and slowly we walked through the path made for us between our friends and neighbors and in at the chapel door . As I passed Harriet I motioned to her and she put her arm around Nell and followed us , while Billy came behind them with father and the children .