seven o'clock
He grumbled if you were late two minutes ; any longer delay would spoil the entire evening for him . He himself was never known to be late . At least not during the entire years of my studying . One Wednesday evening our little circle of friends met as usual in my room at seven o'clock . I had made the customary preparations for the meeting , had borrowed three chairs -- I had but one myself -- had cleaned all my pipes , and had persuaded Hans to take the breakfast dishes from the sofa and carry them downstairs . One by one my friends arrived , the clock struck seven , and to our great astonishment , Solling had not yet appeared . One , two , even five minutes passed before we heard him run upstairs and knock at the door with his characteristic short blows .