six o'clock
`` That is , of course , if it is quite convenient to you , Mrs. Stott . I can come at some other time ... '' `` Please walk in , sir , '' replied Mrs. Stott , and curtsied again as she stood aside . Superintendent Crashaw led the way ... . Challis called again next day , by himself this time ; and the day after he dropped in at six o'clock while Mr. and Mrs. Stott were at tea . He put them at their ease by some magic of his personality , and insisted that they should continue their meal while he sat among the collapsed springs of the horsehair armchair . He leaned forward , swinging his stick as a pendulum between his knees , and shot out questions as to the Stotts ' relations with the neighbours . And always he had an attentive eye on the cradle that stood near the fire .