four in the afternoon
And there were frequent visits and long evenings spent about a cosy fire , when the Morrisons , or the Grants , or the Rileses , dropped in to while away the time . The little sod house was warm and snug , and as the men played checkers while the women sewed , what cared the pioneers for the snow and the cold and the wind whistling across the plains ? *** At last came the crisis . At four in the afternoon Harris kissed his wife an affectionate farewell , hitched his horses to the sleigh , and started out posthaste for Plainville . The sun , hanging low to the western horizon , was banded by a great ring of yellow and gold , bulging into two dull reflected glows at either side . A ground-drift of snow whipped keenly across the hard crust , and the north-west wind had a rip to it , but overhead the sky was clear and the blue amazingly deep . Harris drove by way of the Morrisons , where a few low words sent Tom to the stable at a trot to hitch his own team , while the good wife bustled about in the `` room , '' almost overwhelmed with the importance of her mission .