ten o'clock
The situation in which he resided was so remote and solitary , so far from the comforts and conveniences that are derived from human intercourse , that scarcely any other man in the parish could be induced to undertake the duties attached to it , or consent to live in it at all . Finnerty , however , was a dark , unsocial man , who knew that he was not liked in the country , and who , on his part , paid back to society its hatred of him with interest . He had been engaged in many outrages against the law , and had been once sentenced to transportation for manslaughter -- a sentence which would have been carried into effect were it not for a point made m his case by the lawyer who defended him -- His wife was a kind-hearted , benevolent woman naturally , but she had been for years so completely subdued and disjointed , that she was , at the period we write of , a poor , passive , imbecile creature , indifferent to everything , and with no more will of her own than was necessary to fulfil the duties of mere mechanical existence . It was now near ten o'clock ; Finnerty and she had been sitting at the fire in silence for some time , when at length she spoke . `` Well , I hope there was no one out on the mountains in that mist . '' `` Why , '' said he , `` what is it to you or me whether there was or not ? '' `` That 's thrue , '' she replied , `` but one would n't like any harm to come to a fellow-creature . ''