the hour of eight in the evening
It is one of the earliest English novels , indeed the earliest from the pen of a great writer , published in serial form . G. H. MAYNADIER . THE ADVENTURES OF SIR LAUNCELOT GREAVES It was on the great northern road from York to London , about the beginning of the month of October , and the hour of eight in the evening , that four travellers were , by a violent shower of rain , driven for shelter into a little public-house on the side of the highway , distinguished by a sign which was said to exhibit the figure of a black lion . The kitchen , in which they assembled , was the only room for entertainment in the house , paved with red bricks , remarkably clean , furnished with three or four Windsor chairs , adorned with shining plates of pewter , and copper saucepans , nicely scoured , that even dazzled the eyes of the ' beholder ; while a cheerful fire of sea-coal blazed in the chimney . Three of the travellers , who arrived on horseback , having seen their cattle properly accommodated in the stable , agreed to pass the time , until the weather should clear up , over a bowl of rumbo , which was accordingly prepared . But the fourth , refusing to join their company , took his station at the opposite side of the chimney , and called for a pint of twopenny , with which he indulged himself apart .