ten
o'clock
He never went there . Cranston was present for the first time in weeks , for it was an establishment for which ordinarily he had no use . He and Truman went thither because they knew that that was where Sanders could be found , and there they found him . It was barely ten o'clock , but this light-hearted young gentleman , together with three or four kindred spirits of the Fortieth , was discussing , to the accompaniment of hot Scotch , the relative values of hands dealt at random from a grimy deck . That they should have taken to hot Scotch at such an hour they explained by the statement that as they had to be up with the dawn the day was already old , and that they should be playing poker they did n't consider a matter calling for explanation of any kind . It was `` a way they had in the army '' in those days when the other three-quarters of the year was spent in sharp campaigning . Sanders cheerfully dropped his hand as he had his money and told his story like a little man .