five
o'clock
`` If you 've got something real nice for dinner , though , and feel like company , why do n't you ask -- somebody else that 's lonesome . '' After which , Ethel Morrissey laughed her wickedest and waved a sudden good-by with a last word about seeing her to-morrow . Emma McChesney , her color high , entered her office . It was five o'clock . She cleared her desk in half an hour , breathed a sigh of weariness , reached for hat and jacket , donned them , and , turning out her lights , closed her door behind her for the day . At that same instant , T. A. Buck slammed his own door and walked briskly down the hall . They met at the elevator .