about four o'clock
I suppose they either smote him between the joints of his harness till he died , or else they fell upon him in a body and rent him in pieces . '' `` What nonsense you can talk at times , '' says Mrs. Beaufort , mindful of his speech of a few moments ago . `` Not I , '' says Dicky Browne . It is about four o'clock , and already the shadows are lengthening upon the grass , the soft , cool grass upon which they are all sitting beneath the shade of the huge chestnut trees , that fling their branches in all directions , some east , some west , some heavenwards . A little breeze is blowing towards them sweet essences of pinewood and dark fir . Above in the clear sky the fleecy clouds assume each moment a new form -- a yet more tender color -- now pale blue , now gray , now a soft pink that verges upon crimson . Down far in the hollows a white mist is floating away , away , to the ocean , and there , too , can be seen -LRB- playing hide and seek amongst the great trunks of the giant elms -RRB- the flitting forms of the children dancing fantastically to and fro .