ten o'clock
Of course there was no fire in it now , for it was midsummer ; but in the winter ladies had to carry foot-stoves full of live coals to keep their feet warm in their pews . Squire Lyman 's pew was very near the pulpit , and was always pretty well filled . Like the rest of the great square boxes , -- for that was what they looked like , -- the seat was so high that Patty 's scarlet shoes dangled in the air ever so far from the floor . At precisely ten o'clock , Elder Lovejoy walked feebly up the aisle , and climbed the pulpit stairs . Patty watched him , as if he had been one of Jacob 's angels ascending the ladder . He was a tall , thin man , with a fair complexion and long features . He wore a large turned-down collar and a white neckerchief , stuffed round the throat with what was called a pudding , and the ends of the neckerchief were so very long that they hung half way down his vest .