about
nine o'clock
He had come back in search of health ; and he felt better already ; the milk had done him good , and the bacon and cabbage in the pot sent forth a savoury odour . The Scullys were very kind , they pressed him to make a good meal ; a few weeks of country air and food , they said , would give him back the health he had lost in the Bowery ; and when Bryden said he was longing for a smoke , Mike said there was no better sign than that . During his long illness he had never wanted to smoke , and he was a confirmed smoker . It was comfortable to sit by the mild peat fire watching the smoke of their pipes drifting up the chimney , and all Bryden wanted was to be let alone ; he did not want to hear of anyone 's misfortunes , but about nine o'clock a number of villagers came in , and their appearance was depressing . Bryden remembered one or two of them -- he used to know them very well when he was a boy ; their talk was as depressing as their appearance , and he could feel no interest whatever in them . He was not moved when he heard that Higgins the stone-mason was dead ; he was not affected when he heard that Mary Kelly , who used to go to do the laundry at the Big House , had married ; he was only interested when he heard she had gone to America . No , he had not met her there , America is a big place .