three in the morning
Heavy Biblical pictures , in frames of gleaming black like the splinters of a hearse , were hung against a dark ground . Every time Gourlay raised his head he scowled at them with eyes of gloom . It was curious that , hating his room , he was loath to go to bed . He got a habit of sitting till three in the morning , staring at the dead fire in sullen apathy . He was sitting at nine o'clock one evening , wondering if there was no means of escape from the wretched life he had to lead , when he received a letter from Jock Allan , asking him to come and dine . That dinner was a turning-point in young Gourlay 's career . It is lucky that a letter describing it has fallen into the hands of the patient chronicler .