ten o'clock
She was not an introspective person , but this , clearly , was something that wanted thinking over . It was to `` think '' that she went out for the walk . Only , being Paula , the rhythm of her stride , the sparkle of the spring air , the stream of sharp new-minted sensations incessantly assailing eye and ear , soon swamped her problem ; sunk it beneath the level of consciousness altogether . Long before ten o'clock when she came swinging along Dearborn Avenue toward her husband 's house , she had `` walked off '' her perplexities . A block from the house she found herself overtaking a man in uniform and slackened her pace a little in order not to pass him . There was something unmilitary about the look of him that mildly amused her . It was not that he slouched nor shuffled nor that he was ill-made , though he was probably one of those unfortunates whom issue uniforms never fit .