five o'clock
`` I think it would pay you to do so . I am delving into this thing as deeply as I can , and with your permission I am going to call your father 's old attorney , Mr. Barrister , into consultation . '' `` Go ahead , by all means , '' said Bobby , worried beyond measure . At five o'clock that evening Con Ripley came jauntily to the plant of the Brightlight Electric Company . Con was the engineer , and the world was a very good joke to him , although not such a joke that he ever overlooked his own interests . He spruced up considerably outside of working hours , did Con , and , although he was nearing forty , considered himself very much a ladies ' man , also an accomplished athlete , and positively the last word in electrical knowledge . He was donning his working garments in very leisurely fashion when a short , broad-shouldered , thickset young man came back toward him from the office .