five o'clock
At first , things were new and arresting , but the novelty soon wore off ; and as they went on and on , and still on , it began to seem to Polly , who had never been farther afield than a couple of miles north of the `` Pivot City , '' as if they were driving away from all the rest of mankind , right into the very heart of nowhere . The road grew rougher , too -- became scored with ridges and furrows which threw them violently from side to side . Unused to bush driving , Polly was sure at each fresh jolt that this time the cart MUST tip over ; and yet she preferred the track and its dangers to Richard 's adventurous attempts to carve a passage through the scrub . A little later a cold south wind sprang up , which struck through her thin silk mantle ; she was very tired , having been on her feet since five o'clock that morning ; and all the happy fuss and excitement of the wedding was behind her . Her heart sank . She loved Richard dearly ; if he had asked her , she would have gone to the ends of the earth with him ; but at this moment she felt both small and lonely , and she would have liked nothing better than Mrs. Beamish 's big motherly bosom , on which to lay her head . And when , in passing a swamp , a well-known noise broke on her ear -- that of hundreds of bell-frogs , which were like hundreds of hissing tea-kettles just about to boil -- then such a rush of homesickness took her that she would have given all she had , to know she was going back , once more , to the familiar little whitewashed room she had shared with Tilly and Jinny .