six o'clock
A phonograph , for purposes of dictation , stood on a hinged and swinging bracket . On the wall , under the barometer and thermometers , from a round wooden frame laughed the face of a girl . On the wall , between the rows of buttons and a switchboard , from an open holster , loosely projected the butt of a .44 Colt 's automatic . At six o'clock , sharp , after gray light had begun to filter through the wire netting , Dick Forrest , without raising his eyes from the proofsheets , reached out his right hand and pressed a button in the second row . Five minutes later a soft-slippered Chinese emerged on the sleeping-porch . In his hands he bore a small tray of burnished copper on which rested a cup and saucer , a tiny coffee pot of silver , and a correspondingly tiny silver cream pitcher . `` Good morning , Oh My , '' was Dick Forrest 's greeting , and his eyes smiled and his lips smiled as he uttered it .