six o'clock
`` But there 's no telling to a certainty from a body 's outside . Well , you 'll do as you like about going , of course , sergeant , and as for me , I 'll do as you tell me . '' `` Now , let me see what the time is , '' said Troy , after emptying his glass in one draught as he stood . `` Half-past six o'clock . I shall not hurry along the road , and shall be there then before nine . '' Outside the front of Boldwood 's house a group of men stood in the dark , with their faces towards the door , which occasionally opened and closed for the passage of some guest or servant , when a golden rod of light would stripe the ground for the moment and vanish again , leaving nothing outside but the glowworm shine of the pale lamp amid the evergreens over the door . `` He was seen in Casterbridge this afternoon -- so the boy said , '' one of them remarked in a whisper .