about five o'clock
Frankie used to call for her as he came out of school and then they used to go home together , taking little Freddie Easton with them also , for his own mother was not able to look after him and Mary Linden had so much other work to do . On Wednesday evening , when the child was about five weeks old , as Mrs Owen was wishing her good night , Ruth took hold of her hand and after saying how grateful she was for all that she had done , she asked whether -- supposing anything happened to herself -- Nora would promise to take charge of Freddie for Easton . Owen 's wife gave the required promise , at the same time affecting to regard the supposition as altogether unlikely , and assuring her that she would soon be better , but she secretly wondered why Ruth had not mentioned the other child as well . Nora went away about five o'clock , leaving Ruth 's bedroom door open so that Mrs Linden could hear her call if she needed anything . About a quarter of an hour after Nora and the two children had gone , Mary Linden went upstairs to see Ruth , who appeared to have fallen fast asleep ; so she returned to her needlework downstairs . The weather had been very cloudy all day , there had been rain at intervals and it was a dark evening , so dark that she had to light the lamp to see her work . Charley sat on the hearthrug in front of the fire repairing one of the wheels of a wooden cart that he had made with the assistance of another boy , and Elsie busied herself preparing the tea .