about four o'clock
The February afternoon in Long Whindale , shortened by the first heavy snowstorm of the winter , passed quickly into darkness . Down through all the windings of the valley the snow showers swept from the north , becoming , as the wind dropped a little toward night , a steady continuous fall , which in four or five hours had already formed drifts of some depth in exposed places . Toward six o'clock , the small farmer living across the lane from Burwood became anxious about some sheep which had been left in a high `` intak '' on the fell . He was a thriftless , procrastinating fellow , and when the storm came on about four o'clock had been taking his tea in a warm ingle-nook by his wife 's fire . He was then convinced that the storm would `` hod off , '' at least till morning , that the sheep would get shelter enough from the stone walls of the `` intak , '' and that all was well . But a couple of hours later the persistence of the snowfall , together with his wife 's reproaches , goaded him into action . He went out with his son and lanterns , intending to ask the old shepherd at the Bridge Farm to help them in their expedition to find and fold the sheep .