Five o'clock
The muscles of Skinny 's long , thin arms tightened as he grasped the ball for his first pitch of the season . Suddenly the subdued afternoon babel of the city was dwarfed by a humming of factory whistles , some long drawn and of deep bass , others quicker and higher pitched , rising and dying away in succession as they were supplanted by the distance-mellowed notes of other establishments with lagging time clocks . Dismay robbed John 's face of the grin of a moment before . `` Five o'clock , '' he cried as he threw the baseball glove into the quickening grass . `` Jiminy , kids , and the paper wagon comes at ten of ! '' Inquiry at the little dingy-windowed delicatessen and milk depot confirmed his fears . The cart had arrived on time , and his customers would expect their news sheets that evening .