four o'clock
`` Oh , no , John , '' she responded , `` you should n't eat anything so heavy for breakfast . '' I insisted . `` The fact is , '' she said , pensively , `` I could n't have eaten any more of that ham , and so I gave it to Julius . '' A Deep Sleeper It was four o'clock on Sunday afternoon , in the month of July . The air had been hot and sultry , but a light , cool breeze had sprung up , and occasional cirrus clouds overspread the sun , and for a while subdued his fierceness . We were all out on the piazza -- as the coolest place we could find -- my wife , my sister-in-law and I . The only sounds that broke the Sabbath stillness were the hum of an occasional vagrant bumble-bee , or the fragmentary song of a mocking-bird in a neighboring elm , who lazily trolled a stave of melody , now and then , as a sample of what he could do in the cool of the morning , or after a light shower , when the conditions would be favorable to exertion .