about ten o'clock
Then it began to drop rather more rapidly than it had advanced , to about what the pork had cost , and for a long period fluctuated only a few cents one way or the other . This was followed by a steady decline to the extent of half-a-dollar , and , as the reports came , it `` looked like going lower , '' which it did . In fact , there came a day when it was so `` low , '' and so much more `` looked like going lower '' than ever -LRB- as such things usually do when the `` bottom '' is pretty nearly reached -RRB- , that our friend had not the courage to examine the market reports for the next two days , and simply tried to keep the subject out of his mind . On the morning of the third day the Syrchester paper was brought in about ten o'clock , as usual , and laid on Mr. Harum 's desk . John shivered a little , and for some time refrained from looking at it . At last , more by impulse than intention , he went into the back room and glanced at the first page without taking the paper in his hands . One of the press dispatches was headed : `` Great Excitement on Chicago Board of Trade : Pork Market reported Cornered : Bears on the Run , '' and more of the same sort , which struck our friend as being the most profitable , instructive , and delightful literature that he had ever come across .