five in the morning
She was quite breathless as she reached the eucalyptus grove and paused for a moment before slipping into the house and climbing the stairs . The city lying in the valleys and on the hills arrested her attention , for it was a long while since she had been awake and out of doors at five in the morning . It looked like the ghost of a city in that pallid dawn . The houses seemed to have huddled together as if in fear before they sank into sleep , to crouch close to the earth as if warding off a blow . Only the ugly dome of the City Hall , the church steeples , and the old shot tower held up their heads , and they had an almost terrifying sharpness of outline , of alertness , as if ready to spring .