four o'clock
All the time , that child is a-settin ' thar , a-battin ' his eyes an ' a-starin ' , sleepless as owls . The last I remembers is Boggs 's voice on ` Sandy Land ' '' ` Great big taters on sandy land , Get thar , Eli , if you can . ' `` The next thing I 'm aware of , thar 's a whoop an ' a yell outside . We - alls wakes up -- all except the infant , who 's wide awake all along -- an ' yere it is ; four o'clock in the mornin ' , an ' the mother has come . Comes over on a speshul buckboard from the station where that old inebriate , Monte , drove off an ' left her . Well , son , everybody 's plumb willin ' an ' glad to see her . An ' for that matter , splittin ' even , so 's the infant . ''