eight o'clock
He had left a message to the effect that he would not be at home that night , and at four o'clock telephoned confirming the message . Alix chanced to answer the telephone , and Cherry , who was in her room , heard Peter 's name , and stood still , listening with a shock of disappointment . She did not want him to come home , she was hardly conscious of any desire or dread ; her only thought was that he was there -- now -- at the telephone , and in a moment Alix would have hung up the receiver , and she , Cherry , would not have spoken to him , would not have heard his voice ! But at eight o'clock that evening , when she and Alix were sitting on the porch , when the last ebbing pink of the sunset had faded , and great spiders had ventured forth into the dusk and the dews , there was a sudden hail at the gate , and Cherry knew that it was he ! A flood of utter , irrational happiness rose in her heart ; she had been racked with hunger for the sound of that voice ; she had been restless and unsatisfied , almost feverish with longing and doubt ; now peace came again , and content . He came up to them , his glance resolutely averted from Cherry , explaining that he was lonesome , assuring them that everything went well , and making them laugh with an account of Justin Little 's reception of the new turn of affairs . Alix asked a hundred questions ; laughed and rejoiced .