nearly nine o'clock in the evening
Eve was alone . Never in all her life had she been so absolutely alone as now . She rocked herself to and fro beside her kitchen stove , her thoughts and fears rioting through body and mind , until she sat shivering with terror in the warmth of her own fireside . It was nearly nine o'clock in the evening and the vigilantes were due back in the village before midnight . What would be their news ? What -- ? She paused , listening fearfully .