six o'clock
Virginia has seen him only once in the street , but she 's more than half in love with him already . '' `` Do come , Susan ! '' remonstrated Virginia , blushing as red as the rose in her hair . `` It 's past six o'clock and the General will have gone if we do n't hurry . '' And turning away from the porch , she ran between the flowering syringa bushes down the path to the gate . Having lost his bit of cake , the bird began to pipe shrilly , while Miss Priscilla drew a straight wicker chair -LRB- she never used rockers -RRB- beside the cage , and , stretching out her feet in their large cloth shoes with elastic sides , counted the stitches in an afghan she was knitting in narrow blue and orange strips . In front of her , the street trailed between cool , dim houses which were filled with quiet , and from the hall at her back there came a whispering sound as the breeze moved like a ghostly footstep through an alcove window .