ten o'clock
Hildreth disentangled himself from the legs of his chair and stood up to put his hands on Kent 's shoulders . `` You are up against it hard , David , '' he said ; and he repeated : `` I 'd give all my old shoes to be able to help you out . '' `` I know it , '' said Kent ; and then he turned abruptly and went away . Between nine and ten o'clock the same evening Kent was walking the floor of his room , trying vainly to persuade himself that virtue was its own reward , and wondering if a small dose of chloral hydrate would be defensible under the cruel necessity for sleep . He had about decided in favor of the drug when a tap at the door announced the coming of a bell-boy with a note . It was a message from Portia . `` If you have thrown away your chance definitely , and are willing to take a still more desperate one , come to see me , '' she wrote ; and he went mechanically , as a drowning man catches at a straw , knowing it will not save him .