about one o'clock
`` Yon trunk is mine , '' said Francis , pointing to a trunk of black Russian leather upon the coach . `` We will soon have it down , '' said I ; and at a word which I gave to one of the hangers-on of the inn , the trunk was taken from the top of the coach . `` Now , '' said I to Francis Ardry , `` follow me , I am a person of some authority in this house ; '' thereupon I led Francis Ardry into the house , and a word which I said to a waiter forthwith installed Francis Ardry in a comfortable private sitting-room , and his trunk in the very best sleeping-room of our extensive establishment . It was now about one o'clock : Francis Ardry ordered dinner for two , to be ready at four , and a pint of sherry to be brought forthwith , which I requested my friend the waiter might be the very best , and which in effect turned out as I requested ; we sat down , and when we had drunk to each other 's health , Frank requested me to make known to him how I had contrived to free myself from my embarrassments in London , what I had been about since I quitted that city , and the present posture of my affairs . I related to Francis Ardry how I had composed the Life of Joseph Sell , and how the sale of it to the bookseller had enabled me to quit London with money in my pocket , which had supported me during a long course of ramble in the country , into the particulars of which I , however , did not enter with any considerable degree of fulness . I summed up my account by saying that `` I was at present a kind of overlooker in the stables of the inn , had still some pounds in my purse , and , moreover , a capital horse in the stall . '' `` No very agreeable posture of affairs , '' said Francis Ardry , looking rather seriously at me .