eight o'clock
said Hinton , as Forbes put down Belloc and began to clean a very crusty briar . `` Nothing to-night . '' `` Thank you , sir , '' said Hinton and took his departure , after poking up the fire and removing the dead tea things . The eight o'clock chimes spoke as Hinton clumped downstairs , and a few moments later Forbes 's guests began to straggle in . All were wet and ruddy from rain and wind , and , as they discarded raincoats and caps , disclosed a pleasant medley of types . The Scorpions was a rather recent and informal society , but it had gathered from various colleges a little band of temperamental congenials who found a unique pleasure in their Sunday evening meetings . None of them was of the acknowledged literary successes of the university : their names were not those seen every week in the undergraduate journals .