six o'clock in the evening
Then he got up and left her sitting still , lost in painful reflection . His motives were honest and blameless ; but she had not this consolation . She tried to find comfort in the thought that if Prescott were innocent , he had nothing to fear . It was six o'clock in the evening . Curtis had just finished his supper and sat drowsily content in his quarters at the police post after being out in the frost all day . The temperature had steadily fallen since morning and the cold was now intensified by a breeze that drove scattered clouds across the moon and flung fine snow against the board walls , but the stove , which glowed a dull red , kept the room comfortable . A nickeled lamp shed down a cheerful light , and the tired corporal looked forward to a long night 's rest .