six in the evening
The squire did n't relish this criticism , especially from the source whence it came . There was a want of humility on the part of the culprit which the magnate of Pinchbrook thought would be exceedingly becoming in a young man in his situation . The absence of it made him more angry than before . He stormed and hurled denunciations at the offender ; he rehearsed the mischief he had done during the day , and alluded in strong terms to that which he intended to perpetrate in the `` dead watches of the night '' -- which was the poetical rendering of half-past six in the evening ; for the squire was fond of effective phrases . Tom ventured to hint that a man who would not stand by his country when her flag was insulted and `` trailed in the dust '' -- Tom had read the daily papers -- ought to be brought to his senses by such expedients as his fellow-citizens might suggest . Of course this remark only increased the squire 's wrath , and he proceeded to pronounce sentence upon the unlucky youth , which was that he should be taken to the finished room in the attic , and confined there under bolts and bars till the inquisitor should further declare and execute his intentions . Mrs. Pemberton and Susan remonstrated against this sentence , prudently suggesting the consequences which might result from detaining the boy .