three o'clock in the afternoon
At every cross road Peg seemed bent on taking the wrong turn . In spite of the cold she kept us in a perspiration , and we did not have time even to eat the luncheon that we had brought in our pockets . Old Peg 's one idea was to lead the flock home to the old farm . By hard work we kept the sheep going in the right direction until after three o'clock in the afternoon . By that time four or five inches of snow had fallen . It whitened the whole country and loaded the fleeces of the sheep . The flock had begun to lag , and the younger sheep were bleating plaintively .