eight
o’clock
And then the wild , intense games went on again under the lamp-post , surrounded by so much darkness . Mrs. Morel , going into her parlour , would hear the children singing away : `` My shoes are made of Spanish leather , My socks are made of silk ; I wear a ring on every finger , I wash myself in milk . '' They sounded so perfectly absorbed in the game as their voices came out of the night , that they had the feel of wild creatures singing . It stirred the mother ; and she understood when they came in at eight o'clock , ruddy , with brilliant eyes , and quick , passionate speech . They all loved the Scargill Street house for its openness , for the great scallop of the world it had in view . On summer evenings the women would stand against the field fence , gossiping , facing the west , watching the sunsets flare quickly out , till the Derbyshire hills ridged across the crimson far away , like the black crest of a newt . In this summer season the pits never turned full time , particularly the soft coal .