six o'clock
Thus she reasoned ; but there were a thousand little voices calling to her that she could feel rather than hear , like the hum of distant , powerful machinery -- the little voices of the world , that , when raised in unison , can send their insistent call through the thickest door . Once while packing , a brief shadow of the lotus dream came back to her . She held Merriam 's picture to her heart with one hand , while she threw a pair of shoes into the trunk with her other . At six o'clock Mateo returned and reported the sloop ready . He and his brother lifted the trunk into the cart , covered it with straw and conveyed it to the point of embarkation . From there they transferred it on board in the sloop 's dory . Then Mateo returned for additional orders .