five o'clock
Following his discovery of the outrage committed on his father 's sanctuary , Bryce wasted considerable valuable time and effort in a futile endeavour to gather some further hint of the identity of the vandals ; but despairing at last , he dismissed the matter from his mind , resolving only that on Thursday he would go up into Pennington 's woods and interview the redoubtable Jules Rondeau . Bryce 's natural inclination was to wait upon M. Rondeau immediately , if not sooner , but the recollection of his dinner engagement at the Pennington home warned him to proceed cautiously ; for while harbouring no apprehensions as to the outcome of a possible clash with Rondeau , Bryce was not so optimistic as to believe he would escape unscathed from an encounter . Experience had impressed upon him the fact that in a rough-and-tumble battle nobody is quite so thoroughly at home as a lumberjack ; once in a clinch with such a man , even a champion gladiator of the prize ring may well feel apprehensive of the outcome . Wednesday evening at five o'clock Mr. Sinclair , the manager , came into Bryce 's office with a handful of folded papers . `` I have here , '' he announced in his clerky voice with a touch of solemnity to it , `` a trial balance . I have not had time to make an exact inventory ; but in order to give you some idea of the condition of your father 's affairs , I have used approximate figures and prepared a profit-and-loss account . '' Bryce reached for the papers .