four o'clock
`` You 'd ` tell mamma ' if you got a scratch . '' `` I wo n't , Beth , if you 'll fight , '' Bernadine protested . `` We 'll see after dinner , '' Harriet put in significantly , and then returned to her work . After the four o'clock dinner , during the dark winter months , Mrs. Caldwell dozed for half-an-hour in her chair by the fire . This was the children 's opportunity . They were supposed to sit still and amuse themselves quietly while their mother slept ; and , until she slept , they would sit motionless , watching her , the greater their anxiety to get away the more absolute their silence . Mrs. Caldwell looked as if she were being mesmerised to sleep by the two pairs of bright eyes so resolutely and patiently fixed upon her .