four o'clock in the afternoon
Even Christa , not very quick of feeling , had felt this , and had retired to lounge on the bed in the inner room with a paper novel . Christa usually spent her afternoon in preparing some cheap finery to wear in the cool of the evening , but she felt the family disgrace and Ann 's severity , and was disheartened . As Ann bided her time and considered her own occupation and Christa 's , she marvelled at the audacity of the promise which she had offered to give Bart , yet so awful was the question at stake that her only wish was that he had accepted it . At four o'clock in the afternoon she roused Christa and apportioned a certain bit of work to her . There was a young man in Fentown called David Brown , a comely young fellow , belonging to one of the richer families of the place . He was good-natured , and an athlete ; he had of late fallen into the habit of dropping in frequently to drink Ann 's beer . She felt no doubt that Christa was his attraction .