about ten o'clock
After a long time she said in a gentle voice : `` Child , has it come to matter that much ? '' `` Yes , '' said Miss Betty . CHAPTER XIII . The Tocsin Tom Vanrevel always went to the post-office soon after the morning distribution of the mail ; that is to say , about ten o'clock , and returned with the letters for the firm of Gray and Vanrevel , both personal and official . Crailey and he shared everything , even a box at the post-office ; and in front of this box , one morning , after a night of rain , Tom stood staring at a white envelope bearing a small , black seal . The address was in a writing he had never seen before , but the instant it fell under his eye he was struck with a distinctly pleasurable excitement . Whether through some spiritual exhalation of the writer fragrant on any missive , or because of a hundred microscopic impressions , there are analysts who are able to select , from a pile of letters written by women -LRB- for the writing of women exhibits certain phenomena more determinably than that of men -RRB- those of the prettiest or otherwise most attractive .