two
to five o'clock
He was a salesman for some lines of tailored hats , a San Franciscan , but employed by a New York wholesale house . Emeline chanced to be alone in the place , for Miss Clarke was sick in bed , and the other saleswoman away on her vacation . The trimmers , glancing out through a plush curtain at the rear , saw Miss Cox and the `` drummer '' absorbed in a three hours ' conversation . From two to five o'clock they talked ; the drummer watching her in obvious admiration when an occasional customer interrupted , and when Miss Cox went home the drummer escorted her . Emeline had left the parental roof some two years before ; she was rooming , now , with a mild and virtuous girl named Regina Lynch , in Howard Street . Regina was the sort of girl frequently selected by a girl of Emeline 's type for confidante and companion : timid , conventional , always ready to laugh and admire . Regina consented to go to dinner with Emeline and Mr. Page , and as she later refused to go to the theatre , Emeline would not go either ; they all walked out Market Street from the restaurant , and reached the Howard Street house at about nine o'clock .