about
three o'clock
The requirements of his business pressed heavily upon him , and Mr. Wace does not think that he was altogether free from occasional intemperance . He had begun life in a comfortable position , he was a man of fair education , and he suffered , for weeks at a stretch , from melancholia and insomnia . Afraid to disturb his family , he would slip quietly from his wife 's side , when his thoughts became intolerable , and wander about the house . And about three o'clock one morning , late in August , chance directed him into the shop . The dirty little place was impenetrably black except in one spot , where he perceived an unusual glow of light . Approaching this , he discovered it to be the crystal egg , which was standing on the corner of the counter towards the window . A thin ray smote through a crack in the shutters , impinged upon the object , and seemed as it were to fill its entire interior .