about six
o’clock
They parted at the railway crossing , and Kitty went gaily up the white dusty road , while M. Vandeloup strolled leisurely along the street on his way to the Wattle Tree Hotel . When he arrived he found that Pierre 's box had come , and was placed outside his door , as no one had been brave enough to venture inside , although Miss Twexby assured them he was unarmed -- showing the knife as a proof . Gaston , however , dragged the box into the room , and having made Pierre dress himself in his new clothes , he packed all the rest in a box , corded it , and put a ticket on it with his name and destination , then gave the dumb man the balance of his wages . It was now about six o'clock , so Vandeloup went down to dinner ; then putting Pierre and his box into the cab , stepped in himself and drove off . The promise of rain in the afternoon was now fulfilled , and it was pouring in torrents . The gutters were rivers , and every now and then through the driving rain came the bluish dart of a lightning flash . ` Bah ! '