nearly ten o'clock
The men were of all sorts , old and young , tall and short ; but every one had tried to make himself smart for the interview with the manager : they had carefully brushed hair and scrupulously clean hands . They waited in a passage which Philip learnt afterwards led up to the dining-hall and the work rooms ; it was broken every few yards by five or six steps . Though there was electric light in the shop here was only gas , with wire cages over it for protection , and it flared noisily . Philip arrived punctually , but it was nearly ten o'clock when he was admitted into the office . It was three-cornered , like a cut of cheese lying on its side : on the walls were pictures of women in corsets , and two poster-proofs , one of a man in pyjamas , green and white in large stripes , and the other of a ship in full sail ploughing an azure sea : on the sail was printed in large letters ` great white sale . ' The widest side of the office was the back of one of the shop-windows , which was being dressed at the time , and an assistant went to and fro during the interview . The manager was reading a letter .