four o’clock
The proprietor of the establishment , which from time immemorial had lodged coachmen and coaches , drove himself for the great company of Daumartin , which was so firmly established that its neighbors , the Touchards , whose place of business was directly opposite , never dreamed of starting a rival coach on the Daumartin line . Though the departures for Isle-Adam professed to take place at a fixed hour , Pierrotin and his co-rival practised an indulgence in that respect which won for them the grateful affection of the country-people , and also violent remonstrances on the part of strangers accustomed to the regularity of the great lines of public conveyances . But the two conductors of these vehicles , which were half diligence , half coucou , were invariably defended by their regular customers . The afternoon departure at four o'clock usually lagged on till half-past , while that of the morning , fixed for eight o'clock , was seldom known to take place before nine . In this respect , however , the system was elastic . In summer , that golden period for the coaching business , the rule of departure , rigorous toward strangers , was often relaxed for country customers . This method not infrequently enabled Pierrotin to pocket two fares for one place , if a countryman came early and wanted a seat already booked and paid for by some `` bird of passage '' who was , unluckily for himself , a little late .