four o'clock
`` In that case I will go , '' I replied . With that , I had a hurried lunch , and was driven to the station . As good luck had it , a mail boat had arrived in Southampton that morning , and , in consequence , I was able to travel to town by the special train conveying the passengers and mails . It stopped only at Basingstoke ; in consequence , Big Ben was striking four o'clock when my cab pulled up before the big doors of the Samaritan Hospital . Having discharged my cabman , I ascended the steps , and rang the bell . A moment later the door was opened by a porter . He inquired my business in an off-hand manner , and , when I informed him that I wished to see a patient named Gulliver , told me to step inside , and sit down in the hall while he made the necessary inquiries .