two o'clock
`` Why , the finding and identifying of the Major 's body , ma'am . '' * * * * * Through the still , silent house there came a loud , long , insistent ringing -- that produced by an old-fashioned front door bell . `` I expect it 's Mr. Allen , '' exclaimed Howse . `` He wired as how he 'd be down by two o'clock . '' And a few moments later a tall , dark , clean-shaven man was shaking hands , with the words , `` I think you must be Mrs. Otway ? '' There was little business doing just then among London solicitors , and so Mr. Allen had come down himself . He had a very friendly regard for his wounded and missing client , and his recollection of the interview which had taken place on the day before Major Guthrie had sailed with the First Division of the Expeditionary Force was still very vivid in his mind .