11:30
She denied herself to nobody , was gracious even to the Shakspere-Bacon man , the perpetual-motion man , the travel-article man , the ghosts which haunt every magazine office . The writers who had had their happy hour of O'Mally 's favor kept feeling that Ardessa might reinstate them . She answered their letters of inquiry in her most polished and elegant style , and even gave them hints as to the subjects in which the restless editor was or was not interested at the moment : she feared it would be useless to send him an article on `` How to Trap Lions , '' because he had just bought an article on `` Elephant-Shooting in Majuba Land , '' etc. . So when O'Mally plunged into his office at 11:30 on this , the fourth day of May , having just got back from three-days ' fishing , he found Ardessa in the reception-room , surrounded by a little court of discards . This was annoying , for he always wanted his stenographer at once . Telling the office boy to give her a hint that she was needed , he threw off his hat and topcoat and began to race through the pile of letters Ardessa had put on his desk . When she entered , he did not wait for her polite inquiries about his trip , but broke in at once .