three o'clock
If your Honor would give the order , mayhap we might nail down the coffin lid now and make a start . '' Marmaduke de Chavasse , too , had turned towards the doorway . Both men looked out on the little crowd which had congregated beyond the little gate . It was long past three o'clock now , and the heavy snow clouds overhead obscured the scanty winter light , and precipitated the approach of evening . In the gray twilight , a group of men could be seen standing somewhat apart from the others . All were bareheaded , and all wore rough shirts and breeches of coarse worsted , drab or brown in color , toning in with the dull monochrome of the background . Between them in the muddy road stood the long deal coffin .