nearly four o'clock
True it is that his brother was uncommonly tall , and very strong ; but as the London firemen were all picked men , many of them were very tall , and all of them were strong . Not until the last engine left the ground , did Willie Willders think it advisable to tear himself away , and hasten to his home in Notting Hill , where he found his mother sitting up for him in a state of considerable anxiety . She forebore to question him that night , however . When Willie appeared next morning -- or rather , the same morning , for it was nearly four o'clock when he went to bed -- he found his mother sitting by the fire knitting a sock . Mrs Willders was a widow , and was usually to be found seated by the fire , knitting a sock , or darning one , or mending some portion of male attire . `` So you were at a fire last night , Willie ? '' said the widow .