about two o'clock
She was in a pensive mood as she sat by the car window , gazing at the farm-lands stretching far away , and the wooded hill-sides checkered by the sunlight shining through their boughs . There is always a pleasant diversion in a few hours ' travel , and Beth found herself drawn from her thoughts by the antics of a negro family at the other end of the car . A portly colored woman presided over them ; she had `` leben chilen , four dead and gone to glory , '' as she explained to everyone who questioned her . It was about two o'clock when Beth reached Toronto , and the whirr of electric cars , the rattle of cabs and the mixed noises of the city street would all have been pleasantly exciting to her young nerves but for her thoughts of Marie . She wondered at her coming to the city to spend her last days , but it was quiet on Grenville Street , where she was staying with her friends , the Bartrams . Beth was , indeed , struck by the change in her friend when she entered the room . She lay there so frail and shadow-like among her pillows , her dark cheeks sunken , though flushed ; but her eyes had still their old brilliancy , and there was an indefinable gentleness about her .