three o'clock in the afternoon
She loved him in her strange way ; but she was interested also by the latest arrival , Forbes Gurney . This tall , melancholy youth , with brown eyes and pale-brown hair , was very poor . He hailed from southern Minnesota , and what between a penchant for journalism , verse-writing , and some dramatic work , was somewhat undecided as to his future . His present occupation was that of an instalment collector for a furniture company , which set him free , as a rule , at three o'clock in the afternoon . He was trying , in a mooning way , to identify himself with the Chicago newspaper world , and was a discovery of Gardner Knowles . Stephanie had seen him about the rooms of the Garrick Players . She had looked at his longish face with its aureole of soft , crinkly hair , his fine wide mouth , deep-set eyes , and good nose , and had been touched by an atmosphere of wistfulness , or , let us say , life-hunger .