three o'clock
Did you ever ! Was she going to stay ? What did she think she was going to do ? And so on all the way home , to where awaited the heavy Sunday dinner on which Westville gorged itself python-like -- if it be not sacrilege to compare communicants with such heathen beasts -- till they could scarcely move ; till , toward three o'clock , the church paper sank down upon the distended stomachs of middle age , and there arose from all the easy chairs of Westville an unrehearsed and somewhat inarticulate , but very hearty , hymnal in praise of the bounty of the Creator . At about the time Westville was starting up this chorus , Old Hosie Hollingsworth , in Katherine 's parlour , deposited his rusty silk hat upon the square mahogany piano that had been Doctor West 's wedding gift to his wife . The old lawyer lowered himself into a rocker , crossed his attenuated legs , and shook his head . `` Land sakes -- I certainly was surprised to get your note ! ''