two o’clock
The little , interesting diversity of shapes had vanished from the scene ; all that remained was a vast , dark matrix of sorrow and tragedy , the same in all the houses and the river-flats and the people and the birds ; they were only shapen differently . And now that the forms seemed to have melted away , there remained the mass from which all the landscape was composed , a dark mass of struggle and pain . The factory , the girls , his mother , the large , uplifted church , the thicket of the town , merged into one atmosphere -- dark , brooding , and sorrowful , every bit . `` Is that two o'clock striking ? '' Mrs. Dawes said in surprise . Paul started , and everything sprang into form , regained its individuality , its forgetfulness , and its cheerfulness . They hurried back to work .