about seven o’clock
Sledonti 's `` Poems of Death and Passion '' were now being sold by the thousand in seven European languages , and were about to be translated into Syrian , a circumstance which made the discerning critics of the Nuremberg rather shy of maturing their future judgments too rapidly and too irrevocably . As regards Knopfschrank 's work , they did not lack opportunity for inspecting and appraising it . However resolutely he might hold himself aloof from the social life of his restaurant acquaintances , he was not minded to hide his artistic performances from their inquiring gaze . Every evening , or nearly every evening , at about seven o'clock , he would make his appearance , sit himself down at his accustomed table , throw a bulky black portfolio on to the chair opposite him , nod round indiscriminately at his fellow-guests , and commence the serious business of eating and drinking . When the coffee stage was reached he would light a cigarette , draw the portfolio over to him , and begin to rummage among its contents . With slow deliberation he would select a few of his more recent studies and sketches , and silently pass them round from table to table , paying especial attention to any new diners who might be present . On the back of each sketch was marked in plain figures the announcement `` Price ten shillings . ''