about
ten o'clock
Perhaps Mr. Titmouse will be so obliging as to intimate as much to Mr. Hickerbag . '' There was an obvious reason for this polite allusion to Huckaback . Gammon thought it very possible that that gentleman might be in Mr. Titmouse 's confidence , and exercise a powerful influence over him hereafter ; and that influence Messrs. Quirk , Gammon , and Snap might find it well worth their while to secure beforehand . The moment that Titmouse , with breathless haste , had read over this mollifying document , which being directed to his lodgings correctly , he obtained as soon as he had got home , after quitting Mr. Tag-rag , about ten o'clock , he hastened to his friend Huckaback . That gentleman -LRB- who seemed now virtually recognized by Messrs. Quirk , Gammon , and Snap as Titmouse 's confidant -RRB- shook his head ominously , exclaiming -- `` Blarny , blarny ! '' and a bitter sneer settled on his disagreeable features , till he had read down to the postscript ; the perusal of which effected a sudden change in his feelings . He declared , with a great oath , that Messrs. Quirk , Gammon , and Snap were `` perfect gentlemen , '' and would `` do the right thing after all -- Titmouse might depend upon it ; '' an assurance which greatly cheered Titmouse , to whose keen discernment it never once occurred to refer Huckaback 's altered tone to the right cause , viz. the lubricating quality of the postscript ; and since Titmouse did not allude to it , no more did Mr. Huckaback , although his own double misnomer stuck not a little in his throat .