nearly four
o’clock in the afternoon
A laughing jackass perched on the fence at the side of the road heard Mr Villiers ' hilarity , and , being of a convivial turn of mind itself , went off into fits of laughter also . On hearing this echo Mr Villiers tried to get up , in order to punish the man who mocked him , but , though his intentions were good , his legs were unsteady , and after one or two ineffectual attempts to rise he gave it up as a bad job . Then rolling himself a little to one side of the dusty white road , he went sound asleep , with his head resting on a tuft of green grass . In his white linen suit he was hardly distinguishable in the fine white dust of the road , and though the sun blazed hotly down on him and the mosquitos stung him , yet he slept calmly on , and it was not till nearly four o'clock in the afternoon that he woke up . He was more sober , but still not quite steady , being in that disagreeable temper to which some men are subject when suffering a recovery . Rising to his feet , with a hearty curse , he picked up his hat and put it on ; then , thrusting his hands into his pockets , he slouched slowly along , bent upon meeting his wife and picking a quarrel with her . Unluckily for Madame Midas , she had that day been to Ballarat , and was just returning .