six o'clock
`` I did , '' Benson replied with some heat ; `` but if some one comes along and wants to invest the additional five thousand dollars I would n't turn him down , Mr. Lubliner . '' He rose to his feet to join the pinocle players in the dining room . `` So I hope you enjoy the show to-morrow night , '' he added as he strolled away . * * * * * From six to eight every evening Max Merech underwent a gradual transformation , for six o'clock was the closing hour at Polatkin , Scheikowitz & Company 's establishment , while eight marked the advent of the Sarasate Trio at the Café Román , on Delancey Street . Thus , at six , Max Merech was an assistant cutter ; and , indeed , until after he ate his supper he still bore the outward appearance of an assistant cutter , though inwardly he felt a premonitory glow . After half-past seven , however , he buttoned on a low , turned-down collar with its concomitant broad Windsor tie , and therewith he assumed his real character -- that of a dilettante . At the Café Román each evening he specialized on music ; but with the spirit of the true dilettante he neglected no one of the rest of the arts , and was ever to be found at the table next to the piano , a warm advocate of the latest movement in painting and literature , as well as an appreciative listener to the ultramodern music discoursed by the Sarasate Trio .