one o'clock
The cases were so clear and evident against him , even in the opinion of the neighboring gentry , who had been for years looking upon the system of selfish misrule which he practised , that at length the generous Colonel 's blood boiled with indignation in his veins at the contemplation of his villany . He accused himself bitterly for neglecting his duties as a landlord , and felt both remorse and shame for having wasted his time , health , and money , in the fashionable dissipation of London and Paris ; whilst a cunning , unprincipled upstart played the vampire with his tenants , and turned his estate into a scene of oppression and poverty . Nor was this all ; he had been endeavoring to bring the property more and more into his own clutches , a point which he would ultimately have gained , had not the Colonel 's late succession to so large a fortune enabled him to meet his claims . At one o'clock the tenants were all assembled about the inn door , where the Colonel had resolved to hold his little court . The agent himself soon arrived , as did several other gentlemen , the Colonel 's friends , who knew the people and could speak to their character . The first man called was Dominick M'Evoy . No sooner was his name uttered , than a mild , poor-looking man , rather advanced in years , came forward .