midnight
Had enough , plenty ! '' He was even surer about it the morning after , when he was trying to be grave and paternal with his daughters at breakfast . At noontime he was less sure . He did not deny that he had been a fool ; he saw it almost as clearly as at midnight ; but anything , he struggled , was better than going back to a life of barren heartiness . At four he wanted a drink . He kept a whisky flask in his desk now , and after two minutes of battle he had his drink . Three drinks later he began to see the Bunch as tender and amusing friends , and by six he was with them ... and the tale was to be told all over .