about five o'clock
The slight roughness about him was as inseparable from his build and his character as it is to the best-groomed and best-bred staghound or mastiff of the highest race . Southampton Row , as is well known , leads into Russell Square . In fact the straight line of the Row merges imperceptibly into one side of the Square , whence it continues under the name of Woburn Place , the East side of Tavistock Square , Upper Woburn Place , and Euston Square , losing itself at last in the Northern wilderness of the crowded Euston Road . It was at a house which he passed in his straight course from Holburn towards St. Pancras that this very tall and strong-looking gentleman stopped , at about five o'clock on a September afternoon . He stood on the steps for a moment , and looked up and down the house doubtfully , as if seeking for signs of life from within . A great many people were still out of town , and he was uncertain whether the occupants of this house were at home or not . The place had evidently been in the hands of painters and cleaners since he saw it last : the stone-work was scrupulously white , the wood-work was painted a delicate green .