four
o'clock
`` I 've been out to the Meeches ' all afternoon , '' said the doctor , wearily , mopping his face with a red-bordered handkerchief . `` Is Martha worse ? '' asked Sandy , in quick alarm . `` No , she 's better , '' said the doctor , gruffly ; `` she died at four o'clock . '' Some poet has described love as a little glow and a little shiver ; to Sandy it was more like a ravaging fire in his heart , which lighted up a world of such unutterable bliss that he cheerfully added fresh fuel to the flames that were consuming him . The one absorbing necessity of his existence was to see Ruth daily , and the amount of strategy , forethought , and subtilty with which he accomplished it argued well for his future ability at the bar . In the long hours of the night Wisdom urged prudence ; she presented all the facts in the case , and convinced him of his folly .