the hour of seven
In the brown monotony of the street it stood out splendid , conspicuous . Its door and half its front were painted a beautiful , a remarkable pea-green , while its door knob and door-knocker were of polished brass . Mrs. Downey 's boarding-house knew nothing of concealment or disguise . Every evening , at the hour of seven , through its ground-floor window it offered to the world a scene of stupefying brilliance . The blinds were up , the curtains half-drawn , revealing the allurements of the interior . From both sides of the street , the entire length of the dinner-table was visible . Above it , a handsome gilt gaselier spread out its branches , and on this gaselier as many as three gas-jets burned furiously at once .