six o'clock
Adam worked throughout the night , thinking of his childhood and its happy days , and then of the days of sadness that came later when his father began to loiter at public-houses , and Lisbeth began to cry at home . He remembered well the night of shame and anguish when he first saw his father quite wild and foolish . The two brothers set off in the early sunlight , carrying the long coffin on their shoulders . By six o'clock they had reached Broxton , and were on their way home . When they were coming across the valley , and had entered the pasture through which the brook ran , Seth said suddenly , beginning to walk faster , `` Why , what 's that sticking against the willow ? '' They both ran forward , and dragged the tall , heavy body out of the water ; and then looked with mute awe at the glazed eyes -- forgetting everything but that their father lay dead before them . Adam 's mind rushed back over the past in a flood of relenting and pity .