about four o'clock
Guilt being fully admitted by the prisoner , all Kellson had to do as magistrate was to read over the depositions and pass sentence . He considered the case to be one in which severity was due , so after telling the man he was one on whom exhortation or advice would be thrown away , he passed the highest sentence allowed by law , that is two years ' imprisonment with hard labour and a flogging of thirty-six lashes . It was characteristic of Kellson that the prisoner 's prepossessing appearance had the involuntary effect of making the sentence more severe , or rather , perhaps , of making the magistrate more stern in his estimate of the criminality . At about four o'clock , Kellson had disposed of all the cases , and was thus free for the rest of the afternoon , so he left the office and walked up towards his official residence . He had asked the Chief Constable to see to the fitting up of his room , and he now went to look over the premises . For a long time he was unable to dismiss the face of the prisoner Erlank from his memory , it seemed to be almost as familiar to him as the houses of the street along which he was walking . The village had hardly changed since he had last seen it .