three in the afternoon
He had long , lanky hair of a pale straw-color , a thin face and high cheek-bones , and was dressed -- as was also Master Hymn-of-Praise Busy -- in a dark purple doublet and knee breeches , all looking very much the worse for wear ; the brown tags and buttons with which these garments had originally been roughly adorned were conspicuous in a great many places by their absence , whilst all those that remained were mere skeletons of their former selves . The plain collars and cuffs which relieved the dull color of the men 's doublets were of singularly coarse linen not beyond reproach as to cleanliness , and altogether innocent of starch ; whilst the thick brown worsted stockings displayed many a hole through which the flesh peeped , and the shoes of roughly tanned leather were down at heel and worn through at the toes . Undoubtedly even in these days of more than primitive simplicity and of sober habiliments Master Hymn-of-Praise Busy , butler at Acol Court in the county of Kent , and his henchman , Master Courage Toogood , would have been conspicuous for the shabbiness and poverty of the livery which they wore . The hour was three in the afternoon . Outside a glorious July sun spread radiance and glow over an old-fashioned garden , over tall yew hedges , and fantastic forms of green birds and heads of beasts carefully cut and trimmed , over clumps of late roses and rough tangles of marguerites and potentillas , of stiff zinnias and rich-hued snapdragons . Through the open window came the sound of wood knocking against wood , of exclamations of annoyance or triumph as the game proceeded , and every now and then a ripple of prolonged laughter , girlish , fresh , pure as the fragrant air , clear as the last notes of the cuckoo before he speaks his final farewell to summer . Every time that echo of youth and gayety penetrated into the oak-raftered dining-room , Master Hymn-of-Praise Busy pursed his thick lips in disapproval , whilst the younger man , had he dared , would no doubt have gone to the window , and leaning out as far as safety would permit , have tried to catch a glimpse of the skittle alley and of a light-colored kirtle gleaming among the trees .