six o'clock
Then , at last , for the first time , that plaint that stabbed the mother 's heart : `` Mammy , I 'm hungry . '' `` Be qui-ut , den , '' said Mrs. Hooven . `` Bretty soon we 'll hev der subber . '' Passers-by on the sidewalk , men and women in the great six o'clock homeward march , jostled them as they went along . With dumb , dull curiousness , she looked into one after another of the limitless stream of faces , and she fancied she saw in them every emotion but pity . The faces were gay , were anxious , were sorrowful , were mirthful , were lined with thought , or were merely flat and expressionless , but not one was turned toward her in compassion . The expressions of the faces might be various , but an underlying callousness was discoverable beneath every mask .