nine o'clock
The sight of this had wrung him so that he had a kind of relief in looking at her lifeless face ; and he was slow in laying her down again , like one that fears to wake a sleeping child . Then he went to the foot of the stairs , and softly called to his wife : `` Miranda ! Miranda ! '' Kinney came into town the next morning bright and early , as he phrased it ; but he did not stop at the hotel for Bartley till nine o'clock . `` Thought I 'd give you time for breakfast , '' he exclaimed , `` and so I did n't hurry up any about gettin ' in my supplies . '' It was a beautiful morning , so blindingly sunny that Bartley winked as they drove up through the glistening street , and was glad to dip into the gloom of the first woods ; it was not cold ; the snow felt the warmth , and packed moistly under their runners . The air was perfectly still ; at a distance on the mountain-sides it sparkled as if full of diamond dust .