four o'clock in the
afternoon
He would have paid the driver , but the other told him that the undertaker looked out for that . Vandover watched him a moment as he started his horses downhill , the brake as it scraped against the tire making a noise like the yelping of a dog . Then he turned and faced the house . It was near four o'clock in the afternoon , and everything about the house was very quiet . All the curtains were down except in one of the rooms upstairs . The butler had already opened these windows and was airing the room . Vandover could hear him moving about , sweeping up , rearranging the furniture , making up the bed again .