four o'clock
It was monstrous , impossible , that all should have changed . It was but yesterday that he had returned to the mine with finances assured , confidence restored , and the certainty that Joan Presby loved him , and could come to his side when his work was accomplished . He looked at his watch and the bar of sunlight . It was four o'clock , and the day was gone . Everything was real . Everything was horrible . He crawled stiffly from his bed , thrust his head into the cold water of the basin , and , unshaven , stepped out to the porch and down the trail .