four o'clock
He sought companions -- some of them serious men -- with whom I could not be easy . We kept up the pretence , but talked no longer with entirely open hearts . Yet I loved him ; and now in a sudden urgent desire to carry him off to Cornwall with me and clear up all misunderstandings , I caught his arm and haled him down to our college garden , which lies close within the city wall ; and there , pacing the broken military terrace , plied him with a dozen reasons why he should come . Still he shook his head to all of them ; and presently , hearing four o'clock strike , pulled up in his walk and announced that he must be going -- he had an engagement . `` And where ? '' I asked . He confessed that it was to visit the poor prisoners shut up for debt in Bocardo .