eight o'clock
in the evening
`` I did break down ! '' he said to himself , and sank helplessly into his chair . ANOTHER MAN 'S WIFE OR THE HUSBAND UNDER THE BED AN EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURE `` Be so kind , sir ... allow me to ask you ... '' The gentleman so addressed started and looked with some alarm at the gentleman in raccoon furs who had accosted him so abruptly at eight o'clock in the evening in the street . We all know that if a Petersburg gentleman suddenly in the street speaks to another gentleman with whom he is unacquainted , the second gentleman is invariably alarmed . And so the gentleman addressed started and was somewhat alarmed . `` Excuse me for troubling you , '' said the gentleman in raccoon , `` but I ... I really do n't know ... you will pardon me , no doubt ; you see , I am a little upset ... '' Only then the young man in the wadded overcoat observed that this gentleman in the raccoon furs certainly was upset .