six
o'clock
Eyebright stayed with Mrs. Downs till after dinner , helped in the weekly baking , hemmed two crash towels , told Benny a story , and set out for home a little after four , carrying a blueberry pie in a basket for papa 's supper . As she toiled over the sand of the causeway and up the steep path , she was conscious of a singular heaviness in the air , and it struck her that the sea was making a sound such as she had never heard before , -- a sort of odd shuddering moan , as if some great creature was in pain a long way out from shore . The water looked glassy calm , and there did not seem to be much wind , which made the sound even stranger and more startling . But she forgot about the sound when she reached the house , for there was a great deal to do and not much time to do it in , for Captain Jim expected to get back by six o'clock or soon after . What with sweeping and dusting and fire-making , an hour passed rapidly , when suddenly a dusky darkness settled over the house , and at the same moment a blast of wind blew the door open with a bang . `` Oh dear , there is going to be a thunder-storm , '' thought Eyebright . She was afraid of thunder and lightning and did not like the idea at all .