nearly four o'clock
Mrs Greenways glanced at her a little impatiently as she steadily made the tea , poured it into a tin can , and cut thick hunches of bread and butter . `` I could a done it myself in , half the time , '' she thought ; but she was obliged to confess that Lilac 's preparations if slow were always sure , and that she never forgot anything . Lilac tilted her sunbonnet well forward and set out , walking slowly so as not to spill the tea . How blazing the sun was , though it was now nearly four o'clock . In the distance she could see the end of her journey , the big bare field beyond the orchard full of busy figures . As she passed the kitchen garden , Molly , rushing back from her encounter with the bees , almost ran against her . `` There was two on 'em , '' she cried , her good-natured face shining with triumph and the heat of her exertions ; `` and we 've housed 'em both beautiful .