about six o'clock in the
evening
Quin , who had resolutely kept his course as long as he had been sure of his steady progress toward success , lost his head completely at this sudden collapse of his hopes , and took the first train for New York . A sudden mad necessity was upon him to see Eleanor at once . One look of encouragement , one word of hope from her , and he would rush back to port and gladly begin the voyage all over again . He arrived at the Eighty-second Street apartment about six o'clock in the evening , and , after studying the dingy name-plates , took the five flights of stairs with uncommendable speed , and presented himself at the rear door on the sixth floor . As he waited for an answer to his ring , he wondered if he had not made a mistake about the name on the door-plate . The narrow dark hall , permeated with a smell of onions and cabbage , was all too familiar to him , but it was not at all the proper setting for Eleanor . His bewilderment increased when the door was opened by a white-aproned figure , who after a moment of blank amazement seized his hand in both of hers and pressed it rapturously .