about nine o'clock
To give pleasure -- is that not the law of love ? A very , very Merry Christmas ! DICK . He sent his gift , at about nine o'clock . In gay mood , he wandered about the great house : entered the kitchen where Fanny was singeing the Christmas turkey : returned to the living room to throw a fresh log in the wide fireplace . His mood was too expansive for indoors . He donned short coat and thick cap , but as he passed out of the gate a scared little lad , a foreigner , rushed up breathlessly and begged him to come -- trouble was brewing on the southside .