eight o’clock
These deacons were four in number . One was an old farmer who lived in a village three miles distant . Ever since he was a boy he had driven over to Water Lane on Sunday . He and his family brought their dinner with them , and ate it in the vestry ; but they never stopped till the evening , because of the difficulty of getting home on dark nights , and because they all went to bed in winter-time at eight o'clock . Morning and afternoon Mr. Catfield -- for that was his name -- gave out the hymns . He was a plain , honest man , very kind , very ignorant , never reading any book except the Bible , and barely a newspaper save _ Bell 's Weekly Messenger _ . Even about the Bible he knew little or nothing beyond a few favourite chapters ; and I am bound to say that , so far as my experience goes , the character so frequently drawn in romances of intense Bible students in Dissenting congregations is very rare .