about half past six
I was not worried about their clothes , their taking cold , or sticking the darts into their fingers , but I was beginning to realize the responsibility of consequences . What would the effect of this fête be upon the birthday parties of our village community , where a dish of mottoes , a home-made frosted sponge cake , and a freezer of ice cream -LRB- possibly , but not always -RRB- from town , eaten out-of-doors , meant bliss . I suppose it is only the comfortably poor who have to think of consequences , the uncomfortably rich think they can afford not to , and tired of mere possession , they must express their wealth audibly at any cost . * * * * * Richard and Ian came home about half past six , driven by Timothy Saunders , who was in a sulky mood . When I asked him , by way of cheerful conversation , if the Vanderveer grounds did not look pretty , and if he had heard the band -LRB- he is very fond of music -RRB- , he fairly glowered at me as he used in his bachelor days , before Martha 's energetic affection had mellowed him , and he began to jerk out texts , his dialect growing more impossible each moment , so that the only words that I caught were `` scarlet weemen -- Philistines -- wrath -- mammon o ' the unriteous , '' etc. , until I seized the boys and fled into the porch , because when Timothy Saunders is wrathful , and quotes scripture as a means of expressing it , some one must fly , and it is never Timothy . The boys , however , were jubilant , and began at once to unwrap the various bundles they were hugging , prizes , it seemed , for every game they played , that represented enough plunder to deck a small Christmas tree . After these had been duly admired , with some misgivings on my part , Ian jumped up suddenly , clapping his hand to his pocket , and coming close , so that he could rest upon my knee , he began pulling out shining new dimes and quarters , until his hands , moist and trembling with excitement , could hold no more , and he poured the coins into my lap .