half past two o'clock
That consciousness caused his head to bow , and his cheeks to crimson with shame . It is the curse of this morbid sensibility , that righteous indignation at a foul slander upon one 's good name springs up only after the victim has shown all the accepted evidences of guilt . There was one reason why a man much less sensitive than Marcus should have been thrown off his balance by this letter . It was a fact that every afternoon , at half past two o'clock , rain or shine , with bachelor-like punctuality , he passed up and down in front of Miss Pillbody 's school , and looked sentimentally at the closed blinds , thinking unutterable things . He was also addicted to standing at the hydrant on the corner , and gazing hard at the house , wishing that he could see through its brick walls . Then he would cross the street , and pace up and down on that side , taking views of the house at every variety of angle . This was precisely what the boy Bog did daily about an hour and a half later .