six o'clock
It seemed Miss Price was sharing Miss Snell 's studio , having been sent over by the Lynxville , Massachusetts , Sumner Prize Fund , for which she had successfully competed , and which provided a meagre allowance for two years ' study abroad . `` She wants to paint heads , '' said Miss Snell ; and in reply to a remark about the great amount of study required to accomplish this desire , surprised him by saying , `` Oh , she only wants to paint them well enough to teach , not well enough to sell . '' `` I 'll drop in and see your work some afternoon , '' promised the Painter , warmed by their evident intention of leaving ; and he escorted them to the landing , warning them against the dangerous steepness of his stairway , which wound down in almost murky darkness . Ten minutes later the centre panel of his door displayed a card bearing these words : `` At home only after six o'clock . '' `` I wonder I never thought of doing this before , '' he reflected , as he lit a cigarette and strolled off to a neighboring restaurant ; `` I am always out by that hour . '' * * * * * Several weeks elapsed before he saw Miss Price again , for he promptly forgot his promise to visit her studio and inspect her work . His own work was very absorbing just then , and the short winter days all too brief for its accomplishment .