four o'clock
As they hung in the fair dome of the sky below the few white clouds , it occurred to Harkless that some supping god had inadvertently peppered his custard , and now inverted and emptied his gigantic blue dish upon the earth , the innumerable little black dots seeming to poise for a moment , then floating slowly down from the heights . A farm-bell rang in the distance , a tinkling coming small and mellow from far away , and at the lonesomeness of that sound he heaved a long , mournful sigh . The next instant he broke into laughter , for another bell rang over the fields , the court-house bell in the Square . The first four strokes were given with mechanical regularity , the pride of the custodian who operated the bell being to produce the effect of a clock-work bell such as he had once heard in the court-house at Rouen ; but the fifth and sixth strokes were halting achievements , as , after four o'clock , he often lost count on the strain of the effort for precise imitation . There was a pause after the sixth , then a dubious and reluctant stroke -- seven -- a longer pause , followed by a final ring with desperate decision -- eight ! Harkless looked at his watch ; it was twenty minutes of six . As he crossed the court-house yard to the Palace Hotel , he stopped to exchange a word with the bell-ringer , who , seated on the steps , was mopping his brow with an air of hard-earned satisfaction .