four o'clock
Usually a _ risqué _ story was the safest road to geniality . Starratt raked his brains for a new one , to no purpose . Every moment of delay added greater certainty to the conviction that he was in for a disagreeable encounter . At four o'clock Wetherbee always began to balance his cash for the day and he was particularly vicious at any interruptions during this precise performance . What in the world had possessed Helen to give this absurd dinner party to two people Starratt had never met ? At least she might have put the thing off until pay day , when money was more plentiful . How did others manage ?