two o'clock
Yet what could he do if , by some evil chance , Hermione and Artois arrived the day before the fair , or on the very day of the fair ? He hurried his steps . He wanted to be in the village , to know whether there was a letter for him from Africa . When he came into the village it was about half-past two o'clock , and the long , narrow main street was deserted . The owners of some of the antiquity shops had already put up their shutters for the summer . Other shops , still open , showed gaping doorways , through which no travellers passed . Inside , the proprietors were dozing among their red brocades , their pottery , their Sicilian jewelry and obscure pictures thick with dust , guarded by squadrons of large , black flies , which droned on walls and ceilings , crept over the tiled floors , and clung to the draperies and laces which lay upon the cabinets .