six o'clock
Thus relieved , Jeff set his face homewards , and ran a race with the morning into the valley , reaching the `` Half-way House '' as the sun laid waste its bare , bleak outlines , and relentlessly pointed out its defects one by one . It was cruel to Jeff at that moment , but he hugged his basket close and slipped to the back door and the kitchen , where his aunt was already at work . `` I did n't know ye were up yet , aunty , '' said Jeff submissively . `` It is n't more than six o'clock . '' `` Thar 's four more to feed at breakfast , '' said his aunt severely , `` and yer 's the top blown off the kitchen chimbly , and the fire only just got to go . '' Jeff saw that he was in time . The ordinary breakfast of the `` Half-way House , '' not yet prepared , consisted of codfish , ham , yellow-ochre biscuit , made after a peculiar receipt of his aunt 's , and potatoes .