afternoon, about three o'clock
But here , away from comparisons , shut in by the stable hills , among which mere walking had the novelty of pageantry , and where any man could imagine himself to be Adam without the least difficulty , they attracted the attention of every bird within eyeshot , every reptile not yet asleep , and set the surrounding rabbits curiously watching from hillocks at a safe distance . The performance was that of bringing together and building into a stack the furze-faggots which Humphrey had been cutting for the captain 's use during the foregoing fine days . The stack was at the end of the dwelling , and the men engaged in building it were Humphrey and Sam , the old man looking on . It was a fine and quiet afternoon , about three o'clock ; but the winter solstice having stealthily come on , the lowness of the sun caused the hour to seem later than it actually was , there being little here to remind an inhabitant that he must unlearn his summer experience of the sky as a dial . In the course of many days and weeks sunrise had advanced its quarters from north-east to south-east , sunset had receded from north-west to south-west ; but Egdon had hardly heeded the change . Eustacia was indoors in the dining-room , which was really more like a kitchen , having a stone floor and a gaping chimney-corner . The air was still , and while she lingered a moment here alone sounds of voices in conversation came to her ears directly down the chimney .