six o'clock
`` No , but I have to finish a little job I begun for Elias Warden on the hill . I 'll be back again right away . '' `` None of that , Thomas . You 're goin ' back to the rectory with me now , and if the job is n't finished by six o'clock , you 'll never get your hands on it again . '' The crestfallen Thomas reluctantly turned around and accompanied Hepsey back to the rectory and finished his work in half an hour . After much trial and tribulation the rectory was duly repaired , replastered , and papered . The grass had been cut ; the bushes were trimmed ; and the house had been painted .