four o'clock
By ten the streets were deserted , baked , silent , glaring . Martie and Mrs. Curley would establish themselves in a cool back room , as to-day , with a pitcher of iced tea near at hand . Somehow the hot , empty hours dragged by . At four o'clock the two , with perhaps a friend or two who had come in , would begin to gasp that this was the worst yet . This was awful . The heat had a positive and brassy quality , there was no air stirring . The children in the Park would drag home in the hot sunset light , tired , dirty , whining , and a breathless evening follow the burning day .