4 p.m.
When they arrived at the farm they found her , dressed in her best attire , waiting at the door to receive them , and she proudly ushered them into the sitting-room , where she had spread forth a meal such as might be set before a particularly hungry assemblage of Sunday School scholars . A large ham , not yet quite cold , adorned one end of the table , and a big apple-pie the other , while down the centre were seven round jam-tarts , each measuring about seven inches in diameter . The cruets had been put in the middle of the table instead of Miss Barton 's bowl of flowers , and there were several substantial platefuls of currant-bread . It was an extremely warm afternoon , and even to school-girl appetites the sight of such plenty at 4 p.m. was appalling . Miss Lowe 's convulsed apologies sent the visitors into explosions . `` Look at the tarts ! '' choked Miss Barton .