about two o'clock in the afternoon
His father 's kindness to him , so unexpected and so precious , and , almost better still , his father 's altered feeling to his sister Julia -- how thoughts of these things gladdened him , spite of his sadness ! Oh , if only he could rid the family of that miserable husband of his sister 's in some lawful way ! Of course it might be possible to put the police on his track ; but then , if he were caught and brought to justice , what a lamentable and open disgrace it would be to them all , and might perhaps be the means of partially closing the opening door for his sister to her father 's heart . With such thoughts of mingled cloud and sunshine chasing one another through his mind , he reached , about two o'clock in the afternoon , the little town of Dufferly , and drew rein at the dusky entrance to the Queen 's Hotel , as it was somewhat ambitiously called . Having secured a bed , he walked out into the pebbly street , and strolled into the market - place . He might have proceeded at once to his sister 's lodgings , but he had no wish to encounter her husband there if he could avoid it ; but how to ascertain whether he was in the town or no he could not tell . That he was not likely to remain many days at once in the place he was pretty sure ; and yet his sister 's letter implied that he had been lately with her , and had been taking some steps towards removing the children from their present place of abode .