three o'clock
`` Amias told me once that he should never forget the first time he saw her . He was a mere lad himself of sixteen or seventeen , and a student in a life academy . '' `` Some errand had brought him to Westbrook 's lodgings . It was a dull , cold January afternoon , and though it was only three o'clock , he said the light was so dim that he nearly stumbled over the child . She was sitting huddled up in the doorway of the studio , with an old red shawl over her head to protect her against the draughts , and a tiny black kitten was mewing piteously in her arms . '' '' ` Kitty 's crying for her mother pussy , ' she said , looking at him without the least shyness , ` but I want her to keep me company out here . It is not kind of her to cry . ' '' ''