about eight o'clock in the
morning
He received a solemn pledge to that effect ; and presently the partners separated , a little better satisfied with each other . Though not a word passed between them for several days afterwards on the topic chiefly discussed during the interview above described , the reader may easily imagine that neither of them dropped it from his thoughts . Mr. Quirk , shortly afterwards , paid one or two visits to the neighborhood of Houndsditch , -LRB- a perfect hotbed of clients to the firm , -RRB- where resided two or three gentlemen of the Jewish persuasion , who had been placed , from time to time , under considerable obligations by the firm of Quirk , Gammon , and Snap , in respect of professional services rendered both to themselves and to their friends . One of them , in particular , had a painful consciousness that it was in old Mr. Quirk 's power at any time by a whisper to place his -- the aforesaid Israelite 's -- neck in an unsightly noose which every now and then might be seen dangling from a beam opposite Debtor 's Door , Newgate , about eight o'clock in the morning ; him , therefore , every consideration of interest and of gratitude combined to render subservient to the reasonable wishes of Mr. Quirk . He was a most ingenious little fellow , and had a great taste for the imitative arts -- so strong in fact , that it had once or twice placed him in some jeopardy with the Goths and Vandals of the law ; who characterized the noble art in which he excelled , by a very ugly and formidable word , and annexed the most barbarous penalties to its practice . What passed between him and old Quirk on the occasion of their interviews , I know not ; but one afternoon , the latter , on returning to his office , without saying anything to anybody , having bolted the door , took out of his pocket several little pieces of paper , containing pretty little picturesque devices of a fragmentary character , with antique letters and figures on them -- crumbling pieces of stone , some looking more and some less sunk in the ground , and overgrown with grass ; possibly they were designs for ornaments to be added to that tasteful structure , Alibi House -- possibly intended to grace Miss Quirk 's album . However this might be , after he had looked at them , and carefully compared them one with another , for some time , he folded them up in a sheet of paper , sealed it -- with certainly not the steadiest hand in the world -- and then deposited it in an iron safe .