three o'clock
Thou art our Father who dwellest in the heavens , and we should be perfect , even as thou art perfect , pardoning those who have offended us , and asking thee to pardon them , because they know not what they do . I should recall to mind the beatitudes of the Scripture : Blessed are ye when they revile you and persecute you , and say all manner of evil things against you . The minister of God , or he who is about to become his minister , must be humble , peaceable , meek of heart ; not like the oak that lifts itself up proudly , until the thunderbolt strike it , but like the fragrant herbs of the woods , and the modest flowers of the fields , that give sweeter and more grateful perfume after the rustic has trodden them under foot . '' In these and other meditations of a like nature the hours passed until three o'clock , when Don Pedro , who had just returned from the country , entered his son 's room to call him to dinner . The gay joviality of his father , his jest , his affectionate attentions daring the meal , were all of no avail to draw Don Luis from his melancholy , or to give him an appetite ; he ate little , and scarcely spoke while they were at table . Although much troubled by the silent melancholy of his son , whose health , though indeed robust , was yet not beyond risk of being affected , Don Pedro , who rose with the dawn and had a busy time of it during the day , when he had finished his after-dinner cigar and taken his cup of coffee and his glass of anisette , felt fatigued , and went , according to his custom , to take his two or three hours of _ siesta _ . Don Luis had taken good care not to draw the attention of his father to the offense done him by the Count of Genazahar .