About four o'clock in the afternoon
Ladies , the wonderful doctor can greatly assist you : he has secrets by which you may have a family if you should so wish -- philters to make husbands constant , and salve to make them blind -- cosmetics to remove pimples and restore to youth and beauty , and powders to keep children from squalling . Sound the trumpet , Philotas ; sound , and let everybody know that the wonderful Doctor Appallacheosmo Commetico has vouchsafed to stop here and confer his blessings upon the inhabitants of this town . '' Hereupon Num again blew the trumpet till he was black in the face ; and Timothy , dropping on his donkey , rode away to other parts of the town , where he repeated his grandiloquent announcement , followed , as may be supposed , by a numerous cortege of little ragged boys . About four o'clock in the afternoon . Melchior made his appearance in the market-place , attended by me , dressed as a German student , Timothy and Num in their costumes . A stage had been already prepared , and the populace had crowded round it more with the intention of laughing than of making purchases . The various packets were opened and arranged in front of the platform , I standing on one side of Melchior , Timothy on the other , and Num with his trumpet , holding on by one of the scaffold poles at the corner .