about one o'clock
On the occasion of the last lecture , Mr. Moggridge had not been satisfied with the colour of the platform . It wanted repainting , and I think it very likely that it was a strain of that boyishness which I hope survives in us all , and one of whose quaint fancies is an envy of house-painters , so happy all day with paint-pot and brush and great smooth boards to dab and smooth , that decided him to do the job himself . Mr. Moggridge had this great element of refinement , that he thought nothing honest beneath him . It was the Friday of the entertainment , about one o'clock , and though Mr. Moggridge had practically finished the work the day before , he had slipped in during his lunch-hour to give it a final touch or two . He had brought his lunch in the form of a pork-pie , and while with one hand he plunged the pie occasionally among his red whiskers , with the other he would lean forward and touch up a knot or a nail-hole that needed a little more paint . And he was proud as a boy of the simple bit of slap-dashing , and entirely absorbed in it and the pork-pie . Presently he became aware that he was not alone .