three o'clock
As the days went by and nothing came of my efforts to get a position for Checkers , I had perforce to drop the matter , and Checkers never again referred to it . Gradually his visits became less frequent , as I ceased to continue a profitable subject ; for his invention , however fertile , could not furnish new excuses forever . But I often found myself gathering up the threads of his story as he had told it , weaving into the growing fabric some strands of my own imaginings , until I seemed to find in it an odd and pathetic little romance . * * * * * The town of Clarksville , Ark. , was not attractive at any time , but to Checkers , who had arrived there with Arthur Kendall at three o'clock that summer 's morning en route from Hot Springs , the aspect of the place seemed particularly dismal . The train which had brought them from Little Rock steamed away toward the Territory , and left them standing in darkness on the station platform . A ` bus from the hotel , with two forlorn old horses driven by a sleepy , shock-headed boy , stood waiting on the other side . They entered it and went creaking off .