four
o'clock
Again and again he had been prevented , and it was not until this summer that he had succeeded in carrying out his plans . Now , for the first time in years , Dr. McAlister had consented to take a long vacation ; Theodora 's novel was locked up in the safe at home , waiting for revision ; Hubert was to be with them for three weeks of the time , and Hope had come on from Helena to make the family circle complete . To no one of the family had the week before the flitting been absolutely enjoyable . On one scorching July morning , Phebe and Phebe 's own familiar friend , Isabel St. John , had roused their respective households at four o'clock in order that they might catch the six-thirty train for New York . Once there , they betook themselves to Hester Street in order to study the conditions of life in the East Side . It chanced , however , to be Friday , market day , and the place was a veritable Babel with the cries of the hucksters and the shrill clamor of the women elbowing each other about the push-carts . No one paid any heed to the girls ; and on their side , after a brief inspection they paid heed to but one question , how to get out of the region as speedily as possible .