four in the afternoon
Maggie would often say , remorsefully . As the day grew old the ice on the trees melted and fell away in myriads of gemlike drops . Although the sun shone brightly , there was a sound without as of rain . By four in the afternoon the pageant was over , the sky clouded again , and the typical March outlook was re-established . Amy was awakened on the following morning by innumerable bird-notes , not songs , but loud calls . Hastening to the window , she witnessed a scene very strange to her eyes . All over the grass of the lawn and on the ground of the orchard beyond was a countless flock of what seemed to her quarter-grown chickens .