nine o'clock at night
He had been his mother 's secret stand-by ; he had been her fishmonger , her gamekeeper , her head gardener , her man-at-need in all manner of occasions . His own darling objects meanwhile were laid upon the shelf . He did his best . But after a day 's work in the harvest field , and fishing for eels off the rocks till nine o'clock at night , what time was there for Virgil or Graeca Minora ? Sometimes he must draw up his nets in the morning before he went to the field ; and the fish must be cleaned after they were taken . Sometimes a half day must be spent in going after fruit . And whenever the farm could spare him for a longer time , he was off to the woods with his gun ; to fetch home rabbits at least , if no other game was to be had .