six in the morning
Immediately the excitable little man , before mentioned , slipped forward to the edge of his chair and asked , this time without hesitation : `` At what time did you unfasten the house this morning ? '' `` About six , sir . '' `` Now , could any one leave the house after that time without your knowledge ? '' Thomas glanced a trifle uneasily at his fellow-servants , but answered up promptly and as if without reserve ; `` I do n't think it would be possible for anybody to leave this house after six in the morning without either myself or the cook 's knowing of it . Folks do n't jump from second-story windows in broad daylight , and as to leaving by the doors , the front door closes with such a slam all the house can hear it from top to bottom , and as for the back-door , no one that goes out of that can get clear of the yard without going by the kitchen window , and no one can go by our kitchen window without the cook 's a-seeing of them , that I can just swear to . '' And he cast a half-quizzing , half-malicious look at the round , red-faced individual in question , strongly suggestive of late and unforgotten bickerings over the kitchen coffee-urn and castor . This reply , which was of a nature calculated to deepen the forebodings which had already settled upon the minds of those present , produced a visible effect .