nine o'clock
`` No , suh , '' replied the man ; `` he 's gone ter see de young cullud gal w ` at fainted w ` en de doctah was wid you yistiddy . '' Tryon sat down at the doctor 's desk and hastily scrawled a note , stating that business compelled his immediate departure . He thanked the doctor for courtesies extended , and left his regards for the ladies . Returning to the hotel , he paid his bill and took a hack for the wharf , from which a boat was due to leave at nine o'clock . As the hack drove down Front Street , Tryon noted idly the houses that lined the street . When he reached the sordid district in the lower part of the town , there was nothing to attract his attention until the carriage came abreast of a row of cedar-trees , beyond which could be seen the upper part of a large house with dormer windows . Before the gate stood a horse and buggy , which Tryon thought he recognized as Dr. Green 's .