nearly midnight
She rooted out some old china that Mrs Brighten had stowed away somewhere , and set the table as I seldom saw it set out there . She propped Jim up with pillows , and laughed and played with him like a great girl . She described Sydney and Sydney life as I 'd never heard it described before ; and she knew as much about the Bush and old digging days as I did . She kept old Brighten and me listening and laughing till nearly midnight . And she seemed quick to understand everything when I talked . If she wanted to explain anything that we had n't seen , she would n't say that it was ` like a -- like a ' -- and hesitate -LRB- you know what I mean -RRB- ; she 'd hit the right thing on the head at once . A squatter with a very round , flaming red face and a white cork hat had gone by in the afternoon : she said it was ` like a mushroom on the rising moon . '