about four o’clock
He would write for a while , then sit idle , his clenched fist lying on the table , his eyes following the pattern of the oilcloth . He spoke and wrote his own language so seldom that it came to him awkwardly . His effort to remember entirely absorbed him . At about four o'clock a visitor appeared : Mr. Shimerda , wearing his rabbit-skin cap and collar , and new mittens his wife had knitted . He had come to thank us for the presents , and for all grandmother 's kindness to his family . Jake and Otto joined us from the basement and we sat about the stove , enjoying the deepening gray of the winter afternoon and the atmosphere of comfort and security in my grandfather 's house . This feeling seemed completely to take possession of Mr. Shimerda .