five
o'clock
When he had done , he slowly drank his cup of black coffee , with his eyes fixed on the decanter of brandy , which would soon procure him an hour or two of forgetfulness . First of all he dipped his lips into the cognac , as if to get the flavor of it with the tip of his tongue . Then he threw his head back and poured it into his mouth , drop by drop , and turned the strong liquor over on his palate , his gums and the mucous membrane of his cheeks , and then he swallowed it slowly , and felt it going down his throat , and into his stomach . After every meal he thus during more than an hour , sipped three or four small glasses of brandy , which stupefied him by degrees , and then his head dropped onto his chest , he shut his eyes and went to sleep : then , having drunk it , he raised himself on the seat covered with red velvet , pulled his trousers up , and his waistcoat down , so as to cover the linen which appeared between the two , drew down his shirt sleeves and took up the newspapers again , which he had already read in the morning , and read them all through again , from beginning to end , and between four and five o'clock he went for a walk on the boulevards , to get a little fresh air , as he used to say , and then came back to the seat which had been reserved for him , and asked for his absinthe . He used to talk to the regular customers , whose acquaintance he had made . They discussed the news of the day , and political events , and that carried him on till dinner-time , and he spent the evening like he had the afternoon , until it was time to close . That was a terrible moment for him , when he was obliged to go out into the dark , into the empty room full of dreadful recollections , of horrible thoughts and of mental agony .