nearly
five o'clock
When the Abbe Marron debouched upon the Place du Murier he found three men , each one remarkable in his own way , and all of them bearing with their whole weight upon the present and future of the hapless voluntary prisoner . There stood old Sechard , the tall Cointet , and his confederate , the puny limb of the law , three men representing three phases of greed as widely different as the outward forms of the speakers . The first had it in his mind to sell his own son ; the second , to betray his client ; and the third , while bargaining for both iniquities , was inwardly resolved to pay for neither . It was nearly five o'clock . Passers-by on their way home to dinner stopped a moment to look at the group . `` What the devil can old Sechard and the tall Cointet have to say to each other ? '' asked the more curious .