five o'clock
said Mrs Blackshaw . ` I WOULD like you to see him in the bath , just once ! He looks so -- ' And so on . The next day , Mr Blackshaw , that fearsome autocrat of the Municipal Electricity Works , was saying to himself all day that at five o'clock he was going to assist at the spectacle of his wonderful son 's bath . The prospect inspired him . So much so that every hand on the place was doing its utmost in fear and trembling , and the whole affair was running with the precision and smoothness of a watch . From four o'clock onwards , Mr Blackshaw , in the solemn , illuminated privacy of the managerial office , safe behind glass partitions , could no more contain his excitement .