six o'clock
`` Give ower , Jimmy , or I 'll warm thy jacket , '' exclaimed Annie , fearful lest the boy should hurt Mary 's feelings . `` Nay , let him be , '' replied Mary , and wiping the tears from her face she drew Jimmy closer to herself and mothered him . A hole in one of the rafters , caused by the dropping out of a knot in the wood , enabled Parfitt to see something of what was going on below , and with a sigh of relief he realised that the worst was now over and that the children had effected what he himself could not have done . When six o'clock came he called to Annie to bring him his tea and light his benzoline lamp . When she appeared he gave orders that the evening meal should be got ready in the kitchen , and that when it was over she should ask Mary to wash Jimmy and put him to bed . Anxiously the weaver listened to the carrying out of his instructions , and when he descended the staircase at half-past seven he found the kitchen neatly tidied up and Mary Whittaker seated at the fireside with the two girls on stools at her feet . Until all the children were in bed he made no attempt to get the girl to tell him her story , but sought by tactful means to win her confidence .