three o'clock
He generally found them tacked up over the cashier 's desk . Some of them were still there when Stiger died . Carried away by the warm greetings of the old cashier , and the hearty , whole-souled spirit of companionship inherent in the man -- a spirit always dear to Oliver -- he not only stayed to make another caricature of the old fellow , over which the original laughed until the tears ran down his fat cheeks , but until all the old sketches were once more taken from the drawer or examined on the wall and laughed at over again , Stiger praising him for his cleverness and predicting all kinds of honors and distinctions for him when his talents become recognized . It was just the atmosphere of general approval in which our young hero loved to bask , and again the hours slipped away and three o'clock came and went and his mother 's message was still undelivered . Nor had he been at Judge Ellicott 's office . This fact was not impressed upon him by the moon-faced clock that hung over the cashier 's desk -- time made no difference to Oliver -- but by the cashier himself , who began stuffing the big books into a great safe built into the wall , preparatory to locking it with a key that could have opened the gate of a walled town , and which the old gentleman took home with him every night and hung on a nail by his bed . Thus it came to pass that another half hour had struck before Oliver mounted the steps of the Chesapeake Club in search of the elusive Colonel .