a quarter past five
thought Minns , as the first gleam of pleasure he had experienced that morning shone like a meteor through his wretchedness . Playfulness was agreeably mingled with affection in the disposition of the boy . When satisfied that Mr. Minns was not his parent , he endeavoured to attract his notice by scraping his drab trousers with his dirty shoes , poking his chest with his mamma 's parasol , and other nameless endearments peculiar to infancy , with which he beguiled the tediousness of the ride , apparently very much to his own satisfaction . When the unfortunate gentleman arrived at the Swan , he found to his great dismay , that it was a quarter past five . The white house , the stables , the ` Beware of the Dog , ' -- every landmark was passed , with a rapidity not unusual to a gentleman of a certain age when too late for dinner . After the lapse of a few minutes , Mr. Minns found himself opposite a yellow brick house with a green door , brass knocker , and door-plate , green window-frames and ditto railings , with ` a garden ' in front , that is to say , a small loose bit of gravelled ground , with one round and two scalene triangular beds , containing a fir-tree , twenty or thirty bulbs , and an unlimited number of marigolds . The taste of Mr. and Mrs. Budden was further displayed by the appearance of a Cupid on each side of the door , perched upon a heap of large chalk flints , variegated with pink conch-shells .