six
o'clock
_ What _ a surprise ! '' * * * * * Charlotte swung herself up into the runabout as Doctor Churchill paused for her at the gateway of `` The Banks . '' She had met him here at six o'clock every day since they came , and this was the seventh day . It was impossible for him to get through his round of work earlier , but he was enjoying his evenings and nights in the country with a zest almost sufficient to make up for the daytime hours he missed . Charlotte , however , although she joined merrily in all that went on through the day , was never so happy as when this hour arrived , and dressed in cool white for the evening , she could slip away and walk slowly down this winding road through the orchard and the grove to the gateway . Here she waited in a shady nook for the first puff of the coming motor .