three o'clock
O'Connor considered . `` Well , come up , then , '' he said ungraciously . `` We 'll have to walk up ; there 's no steam on . '' It was then three o'clock . At not later than a quarter to four Mr. O'Connor had definitely determined that unless the report of the conflagration 's extent had been exaggerated beyond all human connection with the facts , the Salamander had sustained a loss in Boston which was considerably greater than its resources would permit it to pay . In other words , if the printed account were even remotely true , the Salamander was , as the phrase has it , insolvent . To put it even more shortly , the company was ruined .