six o'clock
Of these Mr. Brooke also made a note , much to the boy 's dismay ; but consolation followed in the shape of a shilling , although the donor muttered a malediction on his own folly as he turned away . His last actions , before reaching his own house in Upper Woburn Place , were -- first to ring the area-bell for a dog that was waiting at another man 's gate -LRB- an office which the charitable are often called upon to perform in the streets of London for dogs and cats alike -RRB- , and then to pick up a bony black kitten and take it on his arm to his own door , where he delivered it to a servant , with injunctions to feed and comfort the starveling . From which facts it may be seen that Mr. Caspar Brooke , in spite of all his faults , was a lover of dumb animals , and of children , and must therefore have possessed a certain amount of kindliness of disposition . Mr. Brooke dined at six o'clock , then smoked a cigar and had a cup of black coffee brought to him in the untidy little sanctum where he generally did his work . With the coffee came the black kitten , which sidled up to him on the table , purring , and rubbing her head against his arm as if she knew him for a friend . He stroked it occasionally as he read his evening papers , and stroked it in the caressing way which cats love , from its forehead to the tip of its stumpy tail . It was while he was thus engaged that a tap at the door was heard , and the tap was followed by the entrance of a young man , who looked as if he were quite at home .