seven o'clock
But a clerk in the Cut-rate Drug Store was Samuel Tansey , yet his slender frame was a pad that enfolded the passion of Romeo , the gloom of Laura , the romance of D'Artagnan , and the desperate inspiration of Melnotte . Pity , then , that he had been denied expression , that he was doomed to the burden of utter timidity and diffidence , that Fate had set him tongue-tied and scarlet before the muslin-clad angels whom he adored and vainly longed to rescue , clasp , comfort , and subdue . The clock 's hands were pointing close upon the hour of ten while Tansey was playing billiards with a number of his friends . On alternate evenings he was released from duty at the store after seven o'clock . Even among his fellow-men Tansey was timorous and constrained . In his imagination he had done valiant deeds and performed acts of distinguished gallantry ; but in fact he was a sallow youth of twenty-three , with an over-modest demeanour and scant vocabulary . When the clock struck ten , Tansey hastily laid down his cue and struck sharply upon the show-case with a coin for the attendant to come and receive the pay for his score .