nine o'clock
Now , as I look back on it , I see that I 've always , even when I was little , shielded him . '' As she laughed , Fred caught the bright spark in her eye that he knew so well , and held it for a happy instant . Then he blew her a kiss with his finger-tips and fled . AT nine o'clock that evening our three friends were seated in the balcony of a French restaurant , much gayer and more intimate than any that exists in New York to-day . This old restaurant was built by a lover of pleasure , who knew that to dine gayly human beings must have the reassurance of certain limitations of space and of a certain definite style ; that the walls must be near enough to suggest shelter , the ceiling high enough to give the chandeliers a setting . The place was crowded with the kind of people who dine late and well , and Dr. Archie , as he watched the animated groups in the long room below the balcony , found this much the most festive scene he had ever looked out upon . He said to himself , in a jovial mood somewhat sustained by the cheer of the board , that this evening alone was worth his long journey .