eight
o'clock
About four , when it was beginning to be dusk , they were very tired , and Silverbridge had ventured to suggest that as they were all wet through , and as there was to be another meeting in the Assembly Room that night , and as nobody in that part of the town seemed to be at home , they might perhaps be allowed to adjourn for the present . He was thinking how nice it would be to have a glass of hot brandy-and-water and then lounge till dinner-time . But the philosophers received the proposition with stern disdain . Was his Lordship aware that Mr. Carbottle had been out all day from eight in the morning , and was still at work ; that the Carbottleites had already sent for lanterns and were determined to go on till eight o'clock among the artisans who would then have returned from their work ? When a man had put his hand to the plough , the philosophers thought that that man should complete the furrow ! The philosophers ' view had just carried the day , the discussion having been held under seven or eight wet umbrellas at the corner of a dirty little lane leading into the High Street ; when suddenly , on the other side of the way , Mr. Carbottle 's cortège made its appearance . The philosophers at once informed them that on such occasions it was customary that the rival candidates should be introduced .