one o'clock
Mr. Gresley could not help reading , but , as he laid down the manuscript for a moment to rest his eyes , he felt that he had reached the limit of Hester 's powers , and that he could only attribute the last volume to the Evil One himself . He had hardly paid this high tribute to his sister 's talent when the door opened , and Mrs. Gresley came in in a wrapper that had once been white . `` Dear James , '' she said , `` is anything wrong ? It is past one o'clock . Are you never coming to bed ? '' `` Minna , '' said her pastor and master , `` I have been reading the worst book I have come across yet , and it was written by my own sister under my own roof . '' He might have added `` close under the roof , '' if he had remembered the little attic chamber where the cold of winter and the heat of summer had each struck in turn and in vain at the indomitable perseverence of the writer of those many pages .