three in the afternoon
But let him ride as he pleased , this interview with the miller was a chokepear , which he could not swallow . He had begun by receiving a reproof in manners , and ended by sustaining a defeat in logic , both from a man whom he despised . All his old thoughts returned with fresher venom . And by three in the afternoon , coming to the cross-roads for Beckstein , Otto decided to turn aside and dine there leisurely . Nothing at least could be worse than to go on as he was going . In the inn at Beckstein he remarked , immediately upon his entrance , an intelligent young gentleman dining , with a book in front of him . He had his own place laid close to the reader , and with a proper apology , broke ground by asking what he read .