three o'clock in the afternoon
`` But to shout like that , '' protested Miss Chick . `` You -- _ young ladies _ ! '' The girls bit their lips still harder and lifted their chins still higher : they were not quite sure whether they more disliked to be `` children '' or `` young ladies '' -- in that tone of voice . `` Oh , but Miss Jane , '' argued Genevieve , `` you know Sunbridge station is just dead , simply dead at three o'clock in the afternoon . Nobody ever comes on that train , hardly , and there was n't a soul around but that sleepy Mr. Jones and the station men , and that old Mrs. Palmer . And you know _ she _ would n't hear a gun go off right under her nose . '' `` Genevieve , my dear ! ''