two
o'clock
He was a wifeless man , an ' , by the look o ` t , had given up all wish to coax the female eye : for he dressed no better 'n a jockey , an ' all his diversion was to ride in to Tregarrick Market o ' Saturdays , an ' hang round the doorway o ' the Pack-Horse Inn , by A. Walters , and glower at the men an ' women passin ' up and down the Fore Street , an ' stand drinkin ' brandy an ' water while the horse-jockeys there my-lord ` ed ` en . Two an ' twenty glasses , they say , was his quantum ' between noon an ' nine o'clock ; an ' then he 'd climb into saddle an ' ride home to his jewelled four-poster , cursin ' an ' mutterin ' , but sittin ' his mare like a man of iron . `` But one o ' these fine market-days he did a thing that filled the mouths o ' the country-side . `` He was loafin ' by the Pack-Horse door , just as usual , at two o'clock , rappin ' the head o ' his crop on the side o ' his ridin ' boots , drawin ' his brows down an ' lookin ' out curses from under 'em across the street to the saddler 's opposite , when two drover-chaps came up the pavement wi ' a woman atween 'em . `` The woman -- or maid , to call her by her proper title -- was a dark-browed slut , wi ' eyes like sloes , an ' hair dragged over her face till she looked like an owl in an ivy-bush . As for the gown o ' her , 't was no better 'n a sack tied round the middle , wi ' a brave piece torn away by the shoulder , where one o ' the men had clawed her . `` There was a pretty dido goin ' on atween the dree , an ' all talkin ' together -- the two men mobbin ' each other , an ' the girl i ' the middle callin ' em every name but what they was chris ` ened , wi'out distinction o ' persons , as the word goes . ''