About nine in the evening
He turned and went out , and Andy , silent and sick at heart , followed him down the stairs . * * * * * Andy was not able to persuade Tess to talk with him , but obeying Professor Young , he stayed very near her . The blizzard howled and banged outside , adding by its noisy commotion an element of dread to the grief within . About nine in the evening footsteps sounded on the porch ; the dwarf got up and went to the door . Jake Brewer entered and closed the door against the storm . The squatter took off his hat and shook the snow from the top of it . He looked , alternately , from the girl in the chair near the window to the little man staring up at him .