one o'clock
The children 's supper was then prepared . She would have applied to Mrs. Grubb for a loaf of bread , but was so certain of meeting a refusal , that she refrained from doing so . For supper , therefore , they had only the salt fish and potatoes . It was one o'clock that night before exhausted nature refused another draft upon its energies . The garment was not quite finished . But the nerveless hand and the weary head of the poor seamstress obeyed the requirements of her will no longer . The needle had to be laid aside , for the finger had no more strength to grasp , nor skill to direct its motions .