one o'clock
By great good fortune , Soames arrived at the Elephant-and-Castle in time to catch an eastward bound motor - ` bus , a ` bus which would actually carry him to the end of Globe Road . He took his seat on top , and with greater composure than he had known since his dramatic meeting with Gianapolis in Victoria Street , lighted one of Mr. Leroux 's cabanas -LRB- with which he invariably kept his case filled -RRB- and settled down to think about the future . His reflections served apparently to shorten the journey ; and Soames found himself proceeding along Globe Road -- a dark and uninviting highway -- almost before he realized that London Bridge had been traversed . It was now long past one o'clock ; and that part of the east-end showed dreary and deserted . Public houses had long since ejected their late guests , and even those argumentative groups , which , after closing-time , linger on the pavements , within the odor Bacchanalian , were dispersed . The jauntiness was gone , now , from Soames ' manner , and aware of a marked internal depression , he passed furtively along the pavement with its long shadowy reaches between the islands of light formed by the street lamps . From patch to patch he passed , and each successive lamp that looked down upon him found him more furtive , more bent in his carriage .